The nonlinear development of baroclinically unstable waves in the presence of surface friction and heat flux is studied, using a global primitive equation model. The experiments use zonal wavenumber 3.7 or 12 and a variety of initial conditions, mostly representative of observed initial states. Other initial states consist of solidbody rotation with vertical shear of the zonal wind. In addition to comparisons of inviscid and dissipative experiments, the effect of linear and nonlinear drag formulations is compared. Starting from a small-amplitude perturbation in the temperature field, a modal structure emerges and grows exponentially for a few days. Unstable waves assume a structure that reduces frictional energy IOU when surface drag is present, but they still retain a normal mode character during a period of rapid growth. As the wave grows in amplitude, the ratio of upper-level to low-level eddy kinetic energy increases substantially in the presence of nonlinear surface drag. In the absence of s... Abstract The nonlinear development of baroclinically unstable waves in the presence of surface friction and heat flux is studied, using a global primitive equation model. The experiments use zonal wavenumber 3.7 or 12 and a variety of initial conditions, mostly representative of observed initial states. Other initial states consist of solidbody rotation with vertical shear of the zonal wind. In addition to comparisons of inviscid and dissipative experiments, the effect of linear and nonlinear drag formulations is compared. Starting from a small-amplitude perturbation in the temperature field, a modal structure emerges and grows exponentially for a few days. Unstable waves assume a structure that reduces frictional energy IOU when surface drag is present, but they still retain a normal mode character during a period of rapid growth. As the wave grows in amplitude, the ratio of upper-level to low-level eddy kinetic energy increases substantially in the presence of nonlinear surface drag. In the absence of s...