Abstract
An attempt is made to use the barotropic vorticity equation in spectral form in order to study barotropic instability when the basic current has east-west quasi-stationary asymmetries on the scale of long waves. This is done by expressing the spectral equations in three different ways. In the first experiment a 9-component system is integrated and the long waves are allowed to propagate freely. In the second experiment the long waves are constrained to propagate slowly and in the third experiment, they are removed altogether.
The motivation behind the present investigation is due to observations made in the motion fields of the tropics. These are characterized by quasi-stationary long waves and very energetically active and propagating short waves.
The presence of quasi-stationary long waves seems to enhance the energy exchanges between the short waves and the mean zonal current and also allow for larger energy values for the short waves. Long term integration (90 days) shows a 6-day mode in thev time spectra at latitude 10°N and a 15-day mode in theu time spectra at individual grid points in the equatorial latitudes. Any possible connection between this peak and the observed peak of 15 days in the completely different physics of ‘Kelvin waves’ is left as a conjecture.
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Padro, J. On wave motions in a tropical spectral experiment. PAGEOPH 115, 473–489 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00876115
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00876115