Comments on “The Interaction of an Eastward-Flowing Current and an Island: Sub- and Supercritical Flow”

Abstract

AbstractIn regards to the recent paper by Pedlosky and Spall (Journal of Physical Oceanography, November 2015), this comment maintains that the steady-state solutions of Rossby waves in a uniform eastward current past an island have waves on the upstream side that are not caused by the island because of inappropriate boundary conditions and the assumed form of the solution. The solutions are interesting but are not the solutions to the problem as posed in their paper. Similar upstream waves in a time-dependent numerical model are also inconsistent with linear Rossby wave theory, though the reasons for their presence are uncertain.