Balance and Spontaneous Wave Generation in Geophysical Flows

The large-scale dynamics of the mid-latitude atmosphere and ocean is characterized by a timescale separation between slow balanced motion and fast inertia-gravity waves. As a result of this separation, the two types of motion interact only weakly, and the dynamics can be approximated using balanced...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of fluid mechanics 2013-01, Vol.45 (1), p.147-172
Main Author: Vanneste, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Approximation
Balancing
Dynamics
Earth, ocean, space
Evolution
Exact sciences and technology
exponential asymptotics
External geophysics
Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models
inertia-gravity wave
Marine
Mathematical models
quasi-geostrophic model
Rossby number
Separation
slow manifold
Spontaneous
Wave generation
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Summary:The large-scale dynamics of the mid-latitude atmosphere and ocean is characterized by a timescale separation between slow balanced motion and fast inertia-gravity waves. As a result of this separation, the two types of motion interact only weakly, and the dynamics can be approximated using balanced models, which filter out the fast waves completely. The separation is not complete, however: The evolution of well-balanced flows inevitably leads to the excitation of inertia-gravity waves through the process of spontaneous generation. Spontaneous generation has fundamental and practical implications: It limits the validity of balanced models and provides a source of inertia-gravity-wave activity. These two aspects are discussed in this review, which focuses on the small-Rossby-number regime
ISSN:0066-4189
1545-4479
DOI:10.1146/annurev-fluid-011212-140730