Instability of some equatorially trapped waves

Abstract

A high-frequency asymptotics approach within the Lagrangian framework shows that some exact equatorially trapped three-dimensional waves are linearly unstable when their steepness exceeds a specific threshold. Key Points Instability investigation of some new waves. The instability mechanism differs from that for Kelvin waves. The Lagrangian flow is not explicitly available in the Eulerian representation. © 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.