Abstract
Abstract This study examines the flow induced in a highly idealized atmospheric model by an east–west-oriented oceanic thermal front. The model has a linear marine boundary layer coupled to a quasigeostrophic, equivalent- barotropic free atmosphere. The vertical velocity at the top of the boundary layer drives the flow in the free atmosphere and produces an eastward jet, parallel to the oceanic front's isotherms. A large gyre develops on either side of this jet, cyclonic to the north and anticyclonic to the south of it. As the jet intensifies during spinup from rest, it becomes unstable. The most unstable wave has a length of about 500 km, it evolves into a meander, and eddies detach from the eastern edge of each gyre. The dependence of the atmospheric dynamics on the strength T∗ of the oceanic front is studied. The Gulf Stream and Kuroshio fronts correspond roughly, in the scaling used here, to T∗ ≅ 7°C. For weak fronts, T∗ ≤ 4°C, the circulation is steady and exhibits two large, antisymmetric gyres sepa...
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