The viscous boundary layer at the free surface of a rotating baroclinic fluid

Abstract

The properties of the viscous boundary layer at the free surface of a rotating baroclinic fluid are analyzed and compared with those of the well-known Ekman boundary layer at a rigid surface. Although the ageostrophic components of the flow in the free surface boundary layer are weaker than in the Ekman layer, there are problems of practical interest in which their effects are not negligible.