On the scale of baroclinic instability in deep, compressible atmospheres

Abstract

A simple model of linearized, inviscid baroclinic instability in an adiabatic, hydrostatic, compressible atmosphere of arbitrary (though finite) depth, based on the well-known Eady model, is used to investigate the variation of growth rates and favoured horizontal length scales as functions of δ, the ratio of the model depth D to the density scale height Hs. Both geometric height coordinates (with w = 0 horizontal boundary conditions) and log-pressure (with ω = 0 boundary conditions) are considered. For δ > 3 and a given zonal velocity scale, growth rates are significantly reduced relative to comparable instabilities in an incompressible fluid (δ = 0), and may be suppressed altogether in a laterally-bounded channel for large enough δ at a given value of static stability. Where instability does occur, the length scales favoured are longer than for an incompressible fluid, and are generally comparable to a deformation radius based on D (rather than Hs). The relationship between these results and those obtained in comparable recent studies (which have found scales comparable to a deformation radius based on Hs to be important) is examined. Some implications for the role of baroclinic instability in the atmospheres of the major planets are also discussed.