Open AccessSome Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Equatorial Flows
Author(s) -
Adrian Constantin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of physical oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1520-0485
pISSN - 0022-3670
DOI - 10.1175/jpo-d-12-062.1
Subject(s) - equator , geology , geophysics , thermocline , nonlinear system , latitude , equatorial waves , plane (geometry) , great circle , lagrangian , flow (mathematics) , physics , mechanics , classical mechanics , geometry , geodesy , climatology , mathematics , quantum mechanics , mathematical physics
This study presents some explicit exact solutions for nonlinear geophysical ocean waves in the β-plane approximation near the equator. The solutions are provided in Lagrangian coordinates by describing the path of each particle. The unidirectional equatorially trapped waves are symmetric about the equator and propagate eastward above the thermocline and beneath the near-surface layer to which wind effects are confined. At each latitude the flow pattern represents a traveling wave.