PHY 578 - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

Credits: 3

Prerequisite: PHY 550. Corequisite: PHY 475 or PHY 575. The fundamental principles governing the flow of a density-stratified fluid on a rotating planet, with applications to the motions of the ocean and atmosphere. Equations of state, compressibility, Boussinesq approximation. Geostrophic balance, Rossby number. Poincare, Kelvin, Rossby waves, geostrophic adjustment.