THE DYNAMICS OF A BAROTROPIC SINGULAR VOR TEX ON THE BETA-PLANE

A solitary intense singular vortex in a barotropic layer with a rigid lid at the surface is analytically studied on the beta plane. The stre am function of the vortex is proportional to the modified Bessel funct ion K-0(pr), where p is an arbitrary positive constant. The path and v elocity of the vortex are found, and the regular component of the fiel d is examined. The theory proposed is valid only at time scales much s maller than the typical time T-w = (beta/p)(-1), required for a distur bance with the spatial scale p(-1) to travel through a distance of the order of p(-1) due to the beta effect.