On the Generation of Baroclinic Rossby Waves in the Ocean by Meteorological Forces

Abstract

The generation of baroclinic Rossby waves in a continuously stratified ocean by fluctuating fields of wind stress, buoyancy flux and atmospheric pressure at the sea surface is studied by means of boundary layer theory. The internal wave field has been represented analytically in term of the generating meteorological fields and the damping influence of bottom friction. A preliminary application to an example from the eastern Pacific shows that the influence of the atmospheric pressure is negligible compared to that of the other generating agents; on the other hand, fluctuations of the wind stress and the buoyancy flux could be strong enough to generate the waves observed by Emery and Magaard (1976). A more exacting application requires more knowledge about the meteorological fields at the sea surface and has to be left to a later investigation.