Rotating and stratified fluid flow

Abstract

For flows in either rotating or stratified fluids, a technique is developed for solving initial-value problems using an Oseen approximation to the non-linear inertial terms in the equations of motion. The resulting equations for either application are similar. The solutions bear a strong qualitative resemblence to observed flows of both kinds, being characterized at small Rossby or Froude numbers by a blocked flow upstream of an obstacle and waves on the downstream side.