The variation of stratospheric equatorial wave characteristics with the phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is investigated using ECMWF Re-Analysis and NOAA outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data. The impact of the QBO phases on the upward propagation of equatorial waves is found to be consistent and significant. In the easterly phase, there is larger Kelvin wave amplitude but smaller...

The weakly nonlinear dynamics of packets of equatorial Kelvin waves is studied using singular perturbation theory applied to the shallow water wave equations. Within the limits of the perturbation theory, which is formally restricted to weak mean shear and weak nonlinearity, we derive a Nonlinear Schroedinger equation to describe the envelope of the wave packet. We find that nonlinearity has a ...

Direct numerical simulations are used to compare turbulent diffusivities of heat and salt during the growth and collapse of Kelvin–Helmholtz billows. The ratio of diffusivities is obtained as a function of buoyancy Reynolds number Reb and of the density ratio R (the ratio of the contributions of heat and salt to the density stratification). The diffusivity ratio is generally less than unity (he...

We consider the linear stability of two inviscid fluids, in the presence of gravity, sheared past each other and separated by a flexible plate. Conditions for exponential growth of velocity perturbations are found as functions of the flexural rigidity of the plate and the shear rate. This Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is then analyzed in the presence of plates with spatially periodic (with perio...