BAROCLINIC SOLITARY WAVES WITH RADIAL SYMMETRY

A model for the structure and motion of baroclinic solitary waves in the atmosphere or ocean is presented. Like gravity wave solitons, these planetary wave solutions are both weakly nonlinear and weakly dispersive. The dispersion effects, induced by β, are small because the scale of the wave is large compared to the deformation radius. The steepening effects are provided by the interaction of the wave with exterior mean shear flow, which may be either barotropic or baroclinic. The solutions have two properties which suggest that such theories may be useful in modelling solitary disturbances in the atmosphere or ocean: radial symmetry and fluid speeds which exceed the phase speed of the wave itself. As an example, we apply the model to Gulf Stream Rings. © 1979.