A NUMERICAL STUDY OF TRANSIENT ROSSBY WAVES IN A WIND-DRIVEN HOMOGENEOUS OCEAN,
Abstract
The primitive hydrostatic equations for a rectangular homogeneous ocean with a free surface on a beta-plane are integrated numerically for 60 days from an initial state of rest and undisturbed depth of 400 m. A series of transient Rossby waves of approximately 2000 km length form in the central and eastern basin, and undergo a well-marked life cycle of amplification and decay as they propagate westward at about 1 m/sec relative to the zonal current. The northward boundary current in the west (about 1 m/sec) and the countercurrents in the northwest (about 10 cm/sec) may be identified as the first standing members of a continuing series of transients, with subsequent waves reaching progressively smaller maximum amplitudes. These transient oceanic long waves display a meridional asymmetry or tilt characteristic of a (non-linear) poleward eddy transport of zonal momentum, much in the manner of their atmospheric counterparts. Near-geostrophic equilibrium is maintained throughout, with the meridional Ekman flow of the order of a few centimeters per second. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0649762
Entities
People
- W. L. Gates
Organizations
- RAND Corporation