Nonlinear saturation of baroclinic instability in the generalized Phillips model (I) —The upper bound on the evolution of disturbance to the nonlinearly unstable basic flow

Abstract

On the basis of the nonlinear stability theorem in the context of Arnol's second theorem for the generalized Phillips model, nonlinear saturation of baroclinic instability in the generalized Phillips model is investigated. By choosing appropriate artificial stable basic flows, the upper bounds on the disturbance energy and potential enstrophy to the nonlinearly unstable basic flow in the generalized Phillips model are obtained, which are analytic completely and without the limitation of infinitesimal initial disturbance.