The Role of Variable Coriolis Parameter in the Propagation of Inertia-Gravity Waves During the Process of Geostrophic Adjustment
Open Access
- 1 July 1972
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Vol. 2 (3) , 263-272
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1972)002<0263:trovcp>2.0.co;2
Abstract
This analysis treats the transient inertia-gravity wave response of a shallow fluid to an impulsive addition of momentum. The Coriolis parameter varies with latitude, but Rossby waves are not considered. The square of the Coriolis term is approximated by a constant term plus a term linear in the northward coordinate. In this approximation, monochromatic waves, which reach a turning point at the latitude where the wave frequency equals the local Coriolis frequency, are given by Airy functions. A contour integral solution to the initial value problem is expressed as a Fourier integral over wave frequency with an Airy function argument and is evaluated approximately using the stationary phase technique. The solution at a given latitude is first dominated by waves from the source and then waves reflected from turning points poleward of the source. The results are applied to give a qualitative description of the wake of a hurricane moving over a stratified ocean.Keywords
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