北太平洋副热带向东逆流区Rossby波斜压稳定性

根据对卫星观测的海平面高度资料的分析,进一步证实了在北太平洋副热带两支向东的流（副热带逆流和夏威夷背风逆流）所在的区域内,海平面高度的70～210天周期振荡是主要的低频变化.发现在这两支向东的逆流区Rossby波的特性不同：副热带逆流区70～210天周期振荡对应的Rossby波西传过程中增幅,在台湾以东振幅达到最大;而在夏威夷背风逆流区,70～210天周期Rossby波在西传过程中不出现增幅现象.依据2.5层海洋模式得到的关于Rossby波振幅、频率与海洋层结之间的关系,揭示了周期为70～210天的Rossby波为不稳定波,这是由于副热带逆流海域模态水存在使得密度的垂直梯度变小的缘故;而在夏威夷背风逆流区位于表层逆流下的北赤道流西深东浅,70～210天周期Rossby长波在逆流的东部有可能不稳定,但其在逆流的西部是稳定的,因此不出现在西传过程中增幅现象;发现在北太平洋副热带两个向东流的海域,年周期Rossby波是稳定的,因此,在该海域海平面周期为70～210天的振荡的振幅要比年周期振荡的振幅大.     

A note on the general concept of wave breaking for Rossby and gravity waves

A recently proposed general definition of wave breaking is further discussed, in order to deal with some points on which misunderstanding appears to have arisen. As with surface and internal gravity waves, the classification of Rossby waves into breaking and not breaking is a generic classification based on dynamical considerations, and not a statement about any unique signature or automatically recognizable shape. Nor is it a statement about passive tracers uncorrelated with potential vorticity on isentropic surfaces. A strong motivation for the definition is that proofs of the nonacceleration theorem of wave, mean-flow interaction theory rely, explicitly or implicitly, on a hypothesis that the waves do not break in the sense envisaged.The general definition refers to the qualitative behaviour of a certain set of material contours, namely those, and only those, which would undulate reversibly, with small slopes, under the influence of the waves' restoring mechanism, in those circumstances for which linearized, nondissipative wave theory is a self-consistent approximation to nonlinear reality. The waves' restoring mechanism depends upon the basic-state vertical potential density gradient in the case of gravity waves, and upon the basic-state isentropic gradient of potential vorticity in the case of Rossby waves. In the usual linearized theory of planetary scale Rossby waves on a zonal shear flow, the relevant material contours lie along latitude circles when undisturbed.