The weakly nonlinear dynamics of quasi-geostrophic flows over a one-dimensional,
periodic or random, small-scale topography is investigated using an asymptotic approach. Averaged (or homogenized) evolution equations which account for the flow–topography interaction are derived for both homogeneous and continuously stratified
quasi-geostrophic fluids. The scaling assumptions are detailed in each case; for stratified fluids, they imply that the direct influence of the topography is confined within
a thin bottom boundary layer, so that it is through a new bottom boundary condition that the topography affects the large-scale flow. For both homogeneous and
stratified fluids, a single scalar function entirely encapsulates the properties of the
topography that are relevant to the large-scale flow: it is the correlation function of
the topographic height in the homogeneous case, and a linear transform thereof in
the continuously stratified case.Some properties of the averaged equations are discussed. Explicit nonlinear solutions in the form of one-dimensional travelling waves can be found. In the homogeneous case, previously studied by Volosov, they obey a second-order differential equation; in the stratified case on which we focus they obey a nonlinear pseudodifferential equation, which reduces to the Peierls–Nabarro equation for sinusoidal
topography. The known solutions to this equation provide examples of nonlinear
periodic and solitary waves in continuously stratified fluid over topography.The influence of bottom topography on large-scale baroclinic instability is also
examined using the averaged equations: they allow a straightforward extension of
Eady's model which demonstrates the stabilizing effect of topography on baroclinic
instability.
Nonlinear dynamics of continuously measured Bose-Einstein condensates in one-dimensional harmonic traps
