Maintenance of Multiple Jets in a Baroclinic Flow

摘要: This article describes the generation and maintenance of persistent zonal jets in a two-layer quasigeostrophic, b-plane channel model, focusing on transition from one to two jet state. For weak moderate values surface friction supercriticality, occurs abruptly as width baroclinically unstable region initial flow is gradually increased. Across point, state characterized by smaller value eddy energy than that for reduction due increased barotropic conversion eddies mean flow. Consistent with this result, abrupt emergence accompanied sharply defined momentum flux divergence maxima at critical latitudes between maxima. Essentially same behavior found three, three four jets. When or more are present, growing waves exist along inter-jet minima, which referred ‘‘inter-jet disturbances.’’ More importantly, fluxes interjet disturbances diverge minimum, further decelerating Unstable normal modes similar also found. It argued systematic wave absorption may play central role persistence multiple