Eur. Phys. J. B 31, 571-575 (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2003-00067-9

A note on the dynamic boundary conditions in Munk-like circulation models

Istituto Talassografico del CNR Viale Romolo Gessi 2, 34123 Trieste, Italy

Corresponding author: ^a fulcri@itt.ts.cnr.it

Received: 16 July 2002
Published online: 6 March 2003

Abstract

The present note deals with Munk's ocean model and proposes an alternative approach to find its solution, with special regard to the western boundary layer. We introduce a suitable “distance” between the related Sverdrup streamfunction and all the admissible streamfunctions which are valid in the western boundary layer. We prove that such distance has a minimum that singles out a unique solution. Unlike the traditional method, this procedure works without assuming a priori any dynamic boundary condition.