Resonant excitation of Kelvin waves by interactions of subtropical Rossby waves and the zonal mean flow

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that equatorial Kelvin waves can be resonantly excited by interactions with subtropical Rossby waves and the mean flow, using a spherical shallow-water model to clarify the mechanisms behind Kelvin wave growth.

Contribution

The study introduces a model-based analysis showing the resonance between Rossby waves and Kelvin waves, highlighting the role of wave-mean flow interactions in Kelvin wave excitation.

Findings

Kelvin waves are resonantly excited when Rossby wave and mean flow frequencies match.

Velocity tendencies from Rossby wave divergence can dominate Kelvin wave growth.

Resonance mechanism is supported by analytical expressions.

Abstract

Equatorial Kelvin waves can be affected by subtropical Rossby wave dynamics. Previous research has demonstrated the Kelvin wave growth in response to subtropical forcing and the resonant growth due to eddy momentum flux convergence. However, the relative importance of the wave-mean flow and wave-wave interactions for the Kelvin wave growth compared to the direct wave excitation by the external forcing has not been made clear. This study demonstrates the resonant Kelvin wave excitation by interactions of subtropical Rossby waves and the mean flow using a spherical shallow-water model. The use of Hough harmonics as basis functions makes Rossby and Kelvin waves prognostic variables of the model and allows the quantification of terms contributing to their tendencies in physical and wave space. The simulations show that Kelvin waves are resonantly excited by interactions of Rossby waves and the balanced zonal mean flow in the subtropics, provided the Rossby and Kelvin wave frequencies, which are modified by the mean flow, match. The resonance mechanism is substantiated by analytical expressions. The Kelvin wave tendencies are caused by velocity and depth tendencies: The velocity tendencies due to the meridional advection of zonal mean velocity can be outweighed by the zonal advection of Rossby wave velocity or by the depth tendencies due to Rossby wave divergence. Identifying the resonant excitation mechanism in data should contribute to the quantification of Kelvin wave variability originating in the subtropics.