Barotropic instability

Book section

Barotropic instability represents a class of instabilities, usually of parallel shear flows, for which gravity and buoyancy play a negligible role, at least in their energetics. It is not restricted to purely barotropic fluids (for which ρ = ρ(p), where ρ is density and p is pressure) but can also apply to flows which are stratified and exhibit vertical shear, often leading to instabilities with mixed barotropic and baroclinic characteristics. The primary attribute of barotropic instability is usually taken to be the dominance of energy exchanges in which the kinetic energy of a perturbation grows principally at the expense of the kinetic energy of the basic state. Here we present an introduction to the basic mechanisms involved and the factors that determine the necessary and/or sufficient conditions for instability. Several examples are presented and the occurrence and subsequent nonlinear evolution of the instability is illustrated with reference to both laboratory experiments and observations in the atmospheres and oceans of the Earth and other planets in the Solar System.

Authors: Read, P; Dowling, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Series: Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences
• Publication date: 2025-10-01
• DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-323-96026-7.00211-3
• ISBN: 9780124095489
• Language: English
• Keywords: Rossby wave; potential vorticity; barotropic; baroclinic; instability