Free surface equatorial flows in spherical coordinates with discontinuous stratification depending on depth and latitude

Abstract

We derive and subsequently analyze an exact solution of the geophysical fluid dynamics equations which describes equatorial flows (in spherical coordinates) and has a discontinuous fluid stratification that varies with both depth and latitude. More precisely, this solution represents a steady, purely–azimuthal equatorial two-layer flow with an associated free-surface and a discontinuous distribution of the density which gives rise to an interface separating the two fluid regions. While the velocity field and the pressure are given by means of explicit formulas, the shape of the free surface and of the interface are given in implicit form: indeed we demonstrate that there is a well-defined relationship between the imposed pressure at the free-surface and the resulting distortion of the surface’s shape. Moreover, imposing the continuity of the pressure along the interface generates an equation that describes (implicitly) the shape of the interface. We also provide a regularity result for the interface defining function under certain assumptions on the velocity field.