EADY EDGE WAVES AND RAPID DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Perturbations of the classical Eady model are treated in terms of the system's two intrinsic baroclinic edge waves. This provides a simple quantitative example of the wave coupling interpretation of quasigeostrophic instability and a compact framework for examining the rudiments of upper level–lower level dynamical interaction. The reformulation consolidates and extends a series of earlier theoretical results: the existence of transient growth at wavenumbers beyond the Eady cutoff scale, the disparity between different measures of the maximum instantaneous growth rate with the highest values being associated with thermal (pressure) development at large (small) wavelengths, the existence of m..