The coastal undercurrent— A role of longshore scales in coastal upwelling dynamics

A simple three-dimensional model of a time-dependent coastal upwelling is discussed for time scales of several days to a week, with the linear, two-layer, flat-bottom and $\text{?-}\text{plane}$ approximation. Emphasis is placed on the effects of longshore scales determined by the longshore variabilities in the wind stress distributions. The responses of the inshore motions are shown to depend critically on the longshore scales. For a certain wide range of the scales, the system reveals dominantly baroclinic responses and a full development of the poleward coastal undercurrent without β effect. Somewhat detailed discussions are given on the coastal upwelling, the coastal jet and the poleward undercurrent, which are interpreted simply as the orbital velocities of the forced Kelvin-type waves.