Dispersive barotropic equations for stratified mesoscale ocean dynamics (Q687775)

A rotating and gravitating fluid layer as described by the Euler equations in Boussinesq approximation is considered. For long and fast waves of small amplitude, a systematic expansion with respect to a common small parameter, arrived at by discussing the relative magnitudes of the originally three small parameters, reduces the above Euler equations to a closed system of equations averaged over the layer thickness. In the order discussed in the present paper, these equations describe the barotropic part of the motion uncoupled from the slower baroclinic part. Discussion of this coupling in higher orders is announced for a following paper. The paper discusses in a systematic way the various approximations to the full equations as used in the literature and should be of interest to oceanographers and atmospheric scientists dealing with wave phenomena.