摘要

The satellite altimeter data reveal that intraseasonal long Rossby wave is amplified in the western part of subtropical ocean. Based on a two and half layer ocean model we infer that the intraseasonal long Rossby wave may be amplified by the baroclinic instability. According to the baroclinic instability criterion derived from the two and half layer model, we calculate the baroclinic instability area of the Subtropical North Pacific Ocean based on Levitus98 data. The baroclinic instability area is well in accord with the amplification area of the intraseasonal long Rossby wave, and this also proves that the baroclinic instability is the main amplification mechanism of the intraseasonal long Rossby wave in the subtropical ocean. The consistency between the baroclinic instability area and potential vorticity (PV) pool is further proved in this paper, therefore, we have confidence that the intraseasonal long Rossby wave is amplified in the PV pool. Due to the relatively large ocean basin and weak ventilation, the PV pool is much larger in the North Pacific Ocean than in the North Atlantic Ocean, and this is the reason for the difference of wave amplification areas of these two Oceans.