4.

Rossby waves

ROSSBY WAVES

4.1 General considerations

In this chapter we will consider the large-scale waves having synoptic or planetary length
scales and which propagate quasi-horizontally. These waves can be seen on daily weather
maps e.g. on the 50 kPa pressure surface (geopotential) height analysis (Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1 Weather maps. Left: the 50 kPa height (full) and temperature (dashed). Right: the
corresponding surface pressure (full).

In Figure 4.1 the Rossby wave of the 50 kPa surface height shows two ridges and two
troughs. The ridges are over Scandinavia / Western Europe and over the Atlantic Ocean SW
of Iceland. The troughs are over the Atlantic Ocean just west of Ireland and over Russia and
the Black Sea.
These Rossby waves are very important for midlatitude weather development because the
ridges and troughs determine the large-scale circulation. The waves determine the location
and development of the polar front with its associated weather phenomena. Furthermore,
Rossby waves are responsible for a part of the meridional transports of momentum, energy
and water vapour and they are thus an integrating part of the global circulation.
The driving force behind the Rossby wave is the change in Coriolis force with latitude, the socalled -effect. In a barotropic atmosphere the Rossby wave is such that the absolute vorticity
(), defined as

= + f

(4.1)

is conserved. In (4.1) is the (geostrophic) vorticity and f is the Coriolis parameter (a measure
of the Earths vorticity). The mechanism which makes a particle oscillate back and forth
between latitudes can be understood as follows (see Figure 4.2). A particle starts from point A
with a given value of the horizontal wind speed and with = 0. As it travels north f will increase
and, in order to conserve the absolute vorticity, will have to decrease. The particle will
experience an anticyclonic curvature which will deviate it from its original direction. Increasing

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4. Rossby waves
anticyclonic curvature will result in the particle reaching an northernmost position in point B.
Because of the existing curvature the particle will then travel southward and f will start to
increase from here on. As f increases will have to decrease and the curvature will become
less and less anticyclonic. When the particle reaches its starting latitude (point C) we again
have = 0 but its northward speed has reversed and it is heading south. As the particle
crosses the latitude southward, f will decrease so will have to increase: the particle will
experience a cyclonic curvature. The cyclonic vorticity and curvature will increase until the
particle reaches its southernmost latitude (point D) upon which it will start moving northwards
again, and so on.

Figure 4.2 Hypothetical path followed by a particle

conserving absolute vorticity.

From this example it is obvious that the change of the Coriolis parameter with latitude:

f
y

(4.2)

generates a restoring force. The restoring force is horizontal and the oscillation therefore is in
the horizontal plane. The restoring force is proportional to the distance from the original
latitude, this means the particle is performing a harmonic oscillation and a wave is generated.
Another example of the generation of Rossby waves is given e.g. by Holton.
In a baroclinic atmosphere it is not the conservation of absolute vorticity, but conservation of
potential vorticity which is important in this respect. What we have described above is called a
free barotropic Rossby wave. These are only weakly excited in the atmosphere (Holton, 2004).
Of more importance are the forced stationary Rossby modes, which are excited by
longitudinally dependent diabatic heating patterns (e.g. the ocean-continent contrasts in
winter) or by flow over topography (e.g. flow over the Rocky Mountains and the Himalaya).

4.2 Rossby waves in a barotropic atmosphere

In the derivation of the basic set of equations in Chapter 3 the Coriolis parameter (f0) was
assumed constant and we need to reconsider the equations before we can continue. The
simplest form of Rossby waves can be found in a barotropic, divergence free, atmosphere. In
such an atmosphere we start with the conservation of barotropic potential vorticity (Holton eq.
4.26):

D + f

= 0.
Dt h

(4.3)

Where the atmosphere is represented as a homogeneous incompressible fluid of variable

depth h(x,y,z,t).

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4. Rossby waves

Rewriting (4.3) yields:

f + Dh
+ U h + v =
t
h Dt

(4.4)

where we have used f = f 0 + y with = constant. We assume that the basic flow is (a)
zonal, and (b) constant i.e. u = constant and v = = 0 , hence:

u = u + u , v = v , = and h = H + h .
We linearize (4.4) with the perturbation method (see Chapter 2) and assume that the mean
depth of the atmosphere (H) is constant. Furthermore we use f0 instead of f. This yields:

f


+u
+ v = 0
t
x
H

h
h
+u

x
t

(4.5)

The perturbation velocities which are now given on a planetary scale and assumed to be in
geostrophic balance:

v = +

g h
f 0 x

(4.6)

g
= 2 h
fo
So that (4.5) transforms into

f 02
f 02
2
2
h
h
h + u h
h +
= 0.
t
gH
x
gH
x

(4.7)

For this differential equation we seek a solution of the form

h = Ae i (kx +ly t ) .

(4.8)

Substituting from (4.8) into (4.7) gives

( k

l 2 ( )

2
f 02
( ) + u k 2 l 2 k u k f 0 + k = 0
gH
gH

(4.9)

This leads to the dispersion equation

2
0

f
k +l +
gH
2

f2
n + 0
gH

(4.10)

For short waves n >> f 0 / gH , the dispersion equation then reduces to:

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4. Rossby waves

k +l
2

n2

This is the form usually found in textbooks e.g. Holton equation (7.91) or (7.92).
Using the definition of the intrinsic frequency we find for the phase speed of the Rossby
waves:

c=

k
n2

u 2
(k i + l j) .
2
n
+
f
/
gH
0

(4.11a)

To make the analysis simpler we consider waves travelling along the x-axis (l = 0), and we use
the short-wave approximation so that the phase speed is

c = u 2 i
k

or rather

c=u

k2

(4.11b)

Equation (4.11) is one of the most fundamental equations of large-scale atmospheric

dynamics. It gives the two-dimensional horizontal wave propagation on a planetary scale. The
phase speed of these planetary waves, which show anomalous dispersion, is controlled by the
change of the Coriolis parameter with latitude (-effect). From (4.10) we see that the phase
speed is always negative relative to the basic state of the atmosphere because c < u (Figure
4.3). For u = 0 we have c<0 and the Rossby waves propagate in the westward direction, only
if u is large enough will Rossby waves travel eastward, being dragged eastward as it were, by
the basic zonal flow.

Figure 4.3 Phase speed of Rossby waves as a function of wavelength

for = 50N and a basic zonal flow of 10 m/s.

From (4.11b) we can derive the wavelength for stationary waves:

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4. Rossby waves

s = 2

(4.12)

For u = 10 m/s and latitude 50N we find s= 5179 km (see Figure 4.3). Waves with <s have
c>0 and are propagating from west to east. Waves with >s have c<0 and are propagating
from east to west (retrograde motion). In the midlatitudes non-stationary Rossby waves
usually travel eastward at a speed of 6 degrees longitude per day.

4.3 Rossby waves in a stratified atmosphere

Equations (4.10) and (4.11) are the simplest version of the dispersion relation for Rossby
waves. They are valid for truly two-dimensional horizontal propagation and do not express the
influence of vertical changes in the atmosphere. The three-dimensional structure of Rossby
waves can be treated with the aid of the linearized system of equations (3.18)-(3.21).
Because Rossby waves have planetary length scales we only need to use the -plane
approximation i.e. we have to replace f0 in (3.18) and (3.19) with f = f 0 + y . Furthermore
we remove sound waves by taking c s2 = and from scale analysis we have

D 2W
<< N 2W .
Dt 2

If, using f=f(y), we differentiate (3.18) with respect to y and (3.19) with respect to x and
subtract the two equations, then we have a linearized vorticity equation:

U V
D V U

+ f 0
+ V = 0 .

+
Dt x y
x y

(4.13)

If we use c s2 = in (3.20) we obtain an expression for the divergence:

U V

+
= E W ,
x y
z

(4.14)

and from the quasi-static assumption (3.21) gives

N 2W =

1 D

+ E P .

s Dt z

(4.15)

Next we substitute (4.15) into (4.14) for an expression for the horizontal divergence:

U V
1 D 2P
2

+
=

E
P .
x y s N 2 Dt z 2

(4.16)

If we now substitute the divergence of (4.16) into (4.13) we arrive at a linearized differential
equation for the potential vorticity:

f
D V U

+ 20

Dt x y N s

2P

2 E 2 P + V = 0
z

(4.17)

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4. Rossby waves
The equations (4.15) and (4.17) can be approximated quasi-geostrophically. If we set

P
=
s f0
then the geostrophic wind equations are

Ug =

1 P

=
s f 0 y
y

(4.18)

1 P

Vg = +
=
s f 0 x
x
If we substitute this into (4.17) and (4.15) we arrive at, respectively

f 02 2
D 2

2 E 2 +

+
=0
h
2
Dt
x
N z

(4.19)

+ E = 0 .

Dt z

(4.20)

and

N 2W + f 0

The linearized differential equation (4.19), which allows for divergence of the flow field, can
now be solved where (4.20) gives the vertical velocity. If we assume the following form of the
solution

= 0 e i (kx +ly + mz t )

(4.21)

and substitute this in the differential equation (4.19) then, after some algebra, we find the
following dispersion relation

.
2
f
k 2 + l 2 + 02 m 2 + E 2
N

(4.22)

This dispersion equation is fundamentally different from the simple case equation (4.10) as it
(1) incorporates the influence of a stratified atmosphere, and (2) allows propagation of Rossby
waves in the vertical direction. Such a vertical propagation is only possible if the vertical wave
number is real. This is the case when, under the consideration of / k = c u with c < u , the
phase speed (in the x-direction) according to (4.22) must fulfil

u c

> k2 + l2 +

f 02 2
m + E2
2
N

For m=0 we immediately find the phase speed in the x-direction

34

(4.23)

4. Rossby waves

c=u

(4.24)

f 2E2
k +l + 0 2
N
2

This dispersion relation describes horizontal Rossby waves but for a stratified atmosphere.
Rossby waves are often forced by topography. To find out when such stationary waves (with
frequency zero) can propagate vertically we rearrange equation (4.22) for the vertical wave
number to get

N2
m 2 = 2
f0

f 2E2
k 2 + l 2 0 2 .
N
u

(4.25)

Vertical propagation is only possible if the term in square brackets is positive. This means for
vertical propagation the mean zonal wind speed must be in the range

0<u

k + l + f 02 E 2 / N 2
2

Therefore, Rossby waves cannot propagate vertically if the mean zonal winds are easterly, or
if they are westerly and exceed a certain speed.
This has important implications for the dynamics of the middle atmosphere (defined as the
stratosphere and mesosphere). In the summer the zonal winds in the middle atmosphere are
easterly, and so energy from topographically forced Rossby waves cannot reach the middle
atmosphere. In the winter, however, the zonal winds in the middle atmosphere are westerly,
allowing Rossby waves to reach the middle atmosphere and deposit energy. This explains the
sudden stratospheric warming episodes (as much as 40-50 K within a few days) observed in
the Northern Hemisphere winter. This phenomenon is not as pronounced in the Southern
Hemisphere because there are not as many topographical features in that hemisphere to
generate topographically forced Rossby waves.

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4. Rossby waves

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