ESS228
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
Costal
Kelvin Waves
•Coastal
Kelvin waves always propagate with the shoreline on the
right in the northern hemisphere
and on the left in the
southern hemisphere.
•In each vertical plane to the coast, the currents (shown by arrows) are
entirely within the plane and are
exactly the same as those
for a long gravity wave in
a non-rotating channel.
•However, the surface elevation varies exponentially with distance from the coast in order to give a geostrophic balance.
At the coast
depth of the
fluid
