FLOW AROUND A COASTAL BEND - A MODEL OF THE SANTA-BARBARA CHANNEL EDDY

A steady, equatorward wind stress is applied over a two-layer ocean (i nfinitely deep lower layer) west of an otherwise straight meridional c oast with a right-angle bend. Initial (t approximate to 10 days) respo nse consists of an equatorward current (Kelvin wave) that triggers a c yclone around the bend through viscous production and advection of vor ticity, a process akin to eddy shedding in flows without rotation. The response at large times is governed by a Kelvin wave forced by the eq uatorward weakening of the (assumed positive) wind stress curl, which produces a poleward current near the coast. Application to the Santa B arbara Channel cyclone is discussed, and the cyclone-formation process is further demonstrated with a three-dimensional model with topograph y and stratification.