The Propagation and Dissipation of Wind-Generated Near-Inertial Waves: a Review

Near-inertial waves are ubiquitous in global ocean and important for ocean energy cascade. The propagation and dissipation of wind-generated near-inertial waves, as well as their energy partition in the ocean, are of great scientific importance. This article briefly reviews the propagation and dissipation processes of wind-generated near-inertial waves in the ocean, including the factors affecting the propagation of near-inertial waves, such as the β effect, mesoscale vorticity, typhoon wake, and the modes of near-inertial waves; the propagation of near-inertial waves under strong weather perturbations, such as storms; the simulations of the decay timescale of near-inertial waves in the mixed layer; the partition of near-inertial energy in the ocean; and the unresolved problems so far. The review is expected to provide insight for future research on mechanisms and simulations of near-inertial waves.