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Wave propagation in a stratified shear flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

R. J. Hartman
R. J. Hartman
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
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Abstract

The linearized initial-value problem for a two-dimensional, unbounded, exponentially stratified, plane Couette flow is considered. The solution is used to evaluate the evolution of wave-packet perturbations to the mean flow for all Richardson numbers J > ¼, demonstrating that a consistent wave-packet approach to wave propagation in these flows is possible for all J > ¼. It is found that the vertical influence of a wave-packet perturbation is limited to a distance of order (J − ¼)½/k0, where k0 is the magnitude of the initial central wave vector. These results are used to clarify the J [gsim ] ¼ conclusions of an earlier treatment by Booker & Bretherton.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 71 , Issue 1 , 9 September 1975 , pp. 89 - 104
Copyright
© 1975 Cambridge University Press

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References

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