Stratified equatorial flows in cylindrical coordinates

Abstract

Abstract We construct an exact solution modelling the geophysical dynamics of an inviscid and incompressible fluid which possesses a variable density stratification, where the fluid density may vary with both the depth and latitude. Our solution pertains to the large-scale equatorial dynamics of a fluid body with a free surface propagating steadily in a purely azimuthal direction, and is expressed in terms of cylindrical coordinates. Allowing for general fluid stratification greatly complicates the Bernoulli relation—which relates the imposed pressure to the reciprocal fluid distortion at the free-surface—thereby acting as a constraint on the existence of a solution. Employing the implicit function theorem, we establish the existence of solutions and determine that the requisite monotonicity properties hold for the flow solutions we found. Furthermore, since the fluid velocity and pressure are prescribed by explicit formulae in the framework of cylindrical coordinates, our solution is amenable to analysis by the short-wavelength stability approach, which we investigate.