A new approximation for the dynamics of topographic Rossby waves

Yosef Ashkenazy*, Nathan Paldor, Yair Zarmi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new theory of non-harmonic topographic Rossby waves over a slowly varying bottom depth of arbitrary, 1-D, profile is developed based on the linearised shallow water equations on the f-plane. The theory yields explicit approximate expressions for the phase speed and non-harmonic cross-slope structure of waves. Analytical expressions are derived in both Cartesian and Polar coordinates by letting the frequency vary in the cross-shelf direction and are verified by comparing them with the numerical results obtained by running an ocean general circulation model (the MITgcm). The proposed approximation may be suitable for studying open ocean and coastal shelf wave dynamics.

Original languageEnglish
Article number18160
JournalTellus, Series A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
Volume64
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012

Keywords

  • Lake dynamics
  • Linearised shallow water equations
  • Perturbation method
  • Polar coordinates
  • Topographic waves

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