The WKBJ Approximation The WKBJ approximation, often known as just the WBK approximation, is a simple method of getting

approximate solutions to some 2nd order ODEs. The name WKBJ derives from the names Wentzel, Kramer, Brillouin, and Jeffreys, who somewhat independently discovered this method. In the case of internal gravity waves, we have derived the vertical structure function equation to be (1) (see the notes on internal gravity waves for denitions of the symbols). This ODE has the general form (2) that vary much If we restrict ourselves to approximate solutions for faster than the function U(x), then we can nd an approximate solution to this ODE. In terms of internal gravity waves, this is equivalent to examining the solutions only for the higher vertical modes, those that vary in the vertical much faster than N(z). If this is the case, then the effective wavenumber of the solution for is approxiamately (with analogy to the case of constant U) (3) and the corresponding solution to the ODE is approximately (4) In order for this solution to be at all valid, we need for q to be approximately constant; that is, over one cycle of , q cant change very much. The mathematical statement of this fact is that (5) Note that this condition will fail whenever the numerator is >> 1, or when U = k2 . If these conditions are met, we can guess a solution for of the form (6) Substituting this into the orignal ODE, we get (7)

If obeys the conditions above, this equation can be solved via a perturbation expansion to nd that (8) Again, it can be seen that this will fail if q = 0, or if the derivitives of U are too large. Taking just the rst 2 terms of this expression for leads to the result (9) Or, in terms of our original ODE for internal gravity waves, we nd that (10) For the case where N2 << 2 , this can be simplied, and we nd that the solution just goes like 1/N(z). Thus, by scaling solutions from many regions or depths, the modal shapes can be compared using the WKBJ approximation.