Rossby waves in a fluctuating zonal mean flow

Lionel Pandolfo; Alfonso Sutera

doi:10.3402/tellusa.v43i5.11949

Rossby waves in a fluctuating zonal mean flow

Tellus

Volume 43 (1991): Issue 5

By: Lionel Pandolfo and Alfonso Sutera

Open Access

|Jan 1991

Abstract

The effects of the zonal mean wind variability on the energy propagation of a stationary Rossby wave in a barotropic non-divergent atmosphere are studied. It is shown that the random nature of the zonal wind fluctuations do not allow Rossby wave energy to propagate from its energy source. The mechanism for this effect is strongly dependent on the spatial resolution at which the zonal mean flow is assumed to be known. Some speculations are offered on the relation between this mechanism and the systematic error of some low-resolution climate models.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v43i5.11949 | Journal eISSN: 3035-9554

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Language: English

Page range: 257 - 265

Submitted on: Jun 8, 1990

Accepted on: Dec 10, 1990

Published on: Jan 1, 1991

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 1991 Lionel Pandolfo, Alfonso Sutera, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 43 (1991): Issue 5