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Summary: - 1 -
Emission of inertial waves by baroclinically unstable flows: laboratory
experiments with Altimetric Imaging Velocimetry
Y. D. Afanasyev1
, P. B. Rhines2
, and E. G. Lindahl2
October 31, 2006
1
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
http://www.physics.mun.ca/~yakov
2
University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98125, USA
http://www.ocean.washington.edu/research/gfd/gfd.html
- 2 -
Abstract
Results from new experiments on baroclinic instability of a coastal jet demonstrate that this almost
balanced flow spontaneously emits inertial waves when the Rossby radius of deformation is
relatively small such that the characteristics of baroclinic meanders match the dispersion relation for
the inertial waves. The energy of the waves is small compared to the energy of the flow. A single
event of wave emission is identified in the experiment with larger radius of deformation and is
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