Transformation of the ocean level under a moving area of disturbances of atmospheric pressure

Within the framework of the linear model of long waves, we study the transformations of the ocean surface under the conditions of uniform motion of a zone of disturbances of atmospheric pressure. The analysis is based on the evaluation of a two-dimensional integral appearing in the exact expression for the shape of the free surface of the ocean. It is shown that Earth’s rotation, the increase in the horizontal scale of the atmospheric anomaly, and the decrease in the depth of the basin make the displacements of the sea level smaller than those predicted by the law of inverted barometer. The motion of the baric anomalies leads to the opposite effect. In the open ocean, the displacements of its surface under a moving front are more pronounced than in the case of a moving circular anomaly of atmospheric pressure. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 2, pp. 3–14, March–April, 2007.