On the Effect of Friction in Baroclinic Waves¹

1 The research reported here has been sponsered in part by the Geophysics Research Directorate, AFCRL, AFRD, of the Air Research and Development Command, USAF, through its European Office.

Abstract

Pertubation equations for a two-layer model are used to study the effect of the frictiona boundary layer in waves on a baroclinic current. It is found, that the change of the propagation speed of waves due to friction is significant only within the waveband, for which amplification occurs. Compared with the frictionless case, this waveband is broader when friction is included. The frictiona! instability is explained by kinetic energy considerations.

Notes

1 The research reported here has been sponsered in part by the Geophysics Research Directorate, AFCRL, AFRD, of the Air Research and Development Command, USAF, through its European Office.