1975•Journal of the Atmospheric SciencesRequires access

The Barotropic Instability of Rossby Wave Motion: A Reexamination

Dean G. Duffy

Abstract

The barotropic instability of a stationary Rossby wave to arbitrarily small-amplitude perturbations is investigated primarily by analytical means. The flow is found to be unstable; in addition to the unstable and neutral Rossby waves found by Lorenz, the author finds additional modes corresponding to stable inertial-gravity waves. The amplifying disturbances receive their energy from the eddy kinetic energy of the basic flow.

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Key concepts: Barotropic fluid, Rossby wave, Rossby radius of deformation, Rossby number, Instability, Inertial wave, Physics, Mechanics