Internal wave drag in stratified flow over mountains on a beta plane

Teixeira, M. A. C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1205-3233 and Grisogono, B. (2008) Internal wave drag in stratified flow over mountains on a beta plane. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 134 (630). pp. 11-19. ISSN 1477-870X doi: 10.1002/qj.188

Abstract/Summary

The impact of the variation of the Coriolis parameter f on the drag exerted by internal Rossby-gravity waves on elliptical mountains is evaluated using linear theory, assuming constant wind and static stability and a beta-plane approximation. Previous calculations of inertia-gravity wave drag are thus extended in an attempt to establish a connection with existing studies on planetary wave drag, developed primarily for fluids topped by a rigid lid. It is found that the internal wave drag for zonal westerly flow strongly increases relative to that given by the calculation where f is assumed to be a constant, particularly at high latitudes and for mountains aligned meridionally. Drag increases with mountain width for sufficiently wide mountains, reaching values much larger than those valid in the non-rotating limit. This occurs because the drag receives contributions from a low wavenumber range, controlled by the beta effect, which accounts for the drag amplification found here. This drag amplification is shown to be considerable for idealized analogues of real mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas and the Rocky mountains, and comparable to the barotropic Rossby wave drag addressed in previous studies.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/29247
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology No Reading authors. Back catalogue items
Publisher	Royal Meteorological Society
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