Response to a steady poleward outflow. Part I : the linear, quasigeostrophic problem

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2009-07Author
Durland, Theodore S.
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Pedlosky, Joseph
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Spall, Michael A.
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https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4001As published
https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3999.1DOI
10.1175/2008JPO3999.1Keyword
Coastal flows; Estuaries; Currents; Vorticity; PlumesAbstract
The response of a zonal channel to a uniform, switched-on but subsequently steady poleward outflow is presented. An eastward coastal current with a Kelvin wave’s cross-shore structure is found to be generated instantly upon initiation of the outflow. The current is essentially in geostrophic balance everywhere except for the vicinity of the outflow channel mouth, where the streamlines must cross planetary vorticity contours to feed the current. The adjustment of this region generates a plume that propagates westward at Rossby wave speeds. The cross-shore structure of the plume varies with longitude, and at any given longitude it evolves with time. The authors show that the plume evolution can be understood both conceptually and quantitatively as the westward propagation of the Kelvin current’s meridional spectrum, with each spectral element propagating at its own Rossby wave group velocity.
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Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 (2009): 1541-1550, doi:10.1175/2008JPO3999.1.