Zonal flow interaction with Rossby waves in the Earth's atmosphere: A numerical simulation

A numerical simulation of the Charney–Obukhov equation modified by the presence of a sheared zonal flow is carried out. The zonal flow is assumed to propagate longitudinally and is sheared along the meridians. It is shown that owing to the nonlinear interaction of the sheared zonal flow with the initially given disturbances the energy of the zonal flow is accumulating into the formations which are broken into several pieces. As a result new solitary vortex structures arise to produce the structural turbulence