The influence of bottom topography on long Rossby wave propagation in the South Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Long wavelength baroclinic oceanic Rossby waves play a significant role in ocean dynamics. They maintain and influence the strong western boundary currents, are the main oceanic response to changes in atmospheric forcing and are an indicator of the length of time that anomalous conditions persist (Gill 1982). However, due to their small sea surface signature ( 0.1 m) and slow propagation speeds ( 0.1 m/s), detection of these waves was nearly impossible prior to the advent of satellite altimetry. With more than a decade of altimeter data from the TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) satellite and prior missions, it is now possible to examine Rossby waves at the basin wide or global scale with centimeter accuracy.