A theory of deep cyclogenesis in the lee of the Alps. Part I: modifications of baroclinic instability by localized topography.

Abstract

In the present approach, the effect of the mountain is introduced in a perturbative sense, in the framework of quasi-geostrophic theory. Even in this simple approach the spatial structure of the unstable modes is modified by a localized topography in the direction required in order to explain the observed features. In the case of a continuously stratified fluid, the basic characteristics of the observed vertical structure are also reproduced. -from Authors