Satellite altimetry prompted renewed interest in Rossby wave theories, but owing to the lack of suitable in-situ data, new theories have been mostly tested on their ability to account for the surface signature of the waves only. This is not sufficient, however, to discriminate between theories based on different physical assumptions. To make progress, theories need to be tested on their predictions for the Rossby wave vertical structures, which for the moment can only be meaningfully explored in high-resolution numerical simulations. The poster reports on work seeking to link simulated vertical structures with generalized linear normal modes depending on mean flow, topography, and spatial scales. The realisation that the meso-scale eddy field dominates westward propagation in the SSH poses new challenges to study the relative properties of waves and eddies and their interactions.
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