AGEOSTROPHIC THEORY OF ZONAL FLOW ACCELERATION AND WAVE-ACTIVITY CONSERVATION LAW

Motivated by ageostrophic interactions of wave and basic flow,the generalized relationships between 3-dimensional Eliassen-Palm flux and basic flows,which are suitable for small-amplitude and finite-amplitude disturbances,are derived.The local area-averaged and density-weighted mean flows are chosen as the basic flows.Under the assumption that the steady basic flows vary slowly in time and space,a quasi-conservative law of small amplitude wave activity is derived from Ertel's potential vorticity equation in isentropic coordinates. The expressions of the new 3-D Eliassen-Palm flux and wave activity are presented in terms of Eulerian quantities so that they can be readily calculated by using observation data or model output data.