Shallow-water quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity ($Q={\nabla }^2\psi -\psi /L_D^2+\beta y$)

For small Rossby number and small free-surface displacement, shallow-water potential vorticity reduces, up to a constant factor and additive constant, to relative vorticity plus background PV gradients and the stretching term $-\psi /L_D^2$.

For a uniform upstream current whose free-surface and bottom slopes compensate, steady quasi-geostrophic approximation flow with uniform incoming potential vorticity obeys the displayed inversion equation. Let $\hat{b}=ϵ\cos (x/L)$ on $|x|<a=\pi L/2$ and zero outside. With $C=(fϵ/h_0)/(L^{-2}+L_R^{-2})$, the decaying even response is $\varphi =C[\cos (x/L)+(L_R/L)e^{-a/L_R}\cosh (x/L_R)]$ inside and $\varphi =C(L_R/L)e^{-a/L_R}\cosh (a/L_R)e^{-(|x|-a)/L_R}$ outside. Continuity of $\varphi$ and ${\varphi }^{\prime }$ fixes the coefficients. Its streamlines satisfy $y=y_{\infty }+\varphi (x)/U$, so the response extends beyond the compact ridge through exponentially decaying balanced tails.

On a constant f-plane with finite Rossby deformation radius, a geostrophic uniform current $(U,0)$ has streamfunction $-Uy$ and a sloping free surface. The full shallow-water quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity is $Q=f+{\nabla }^2\Psi -\Psi /L_R^2+fb/H$, so a flat-bottom background has the displayed nonconstant value. Omitting its gradient is not a harmless streamfunction gauge choice. A uniform-current, constant-PV inversion must explicitly supply a compensating background, external balance, or a rigid-lid limit.

In a shallow-water potential-vorticity inversion with the background gradient explicitly compensated, uniform PV gives $({\nabla }^2-L_R^{-2}){\psi }^{\prime }=-fb/H$. The displayed Gaussian function solves it for $b=ϵ[4(1-r^2/a^2)+a^2/L_R^2]e^{-r^2/a^2}$. This is not, without that compensation, a steady solution of the standard finite-depth constant-f current problem: its residual is $U{\psi }_x^{\prime }/L_R^2$. Closed streamlines can occur while Rossby number and surface displacement remain small.

For total streamfunction $\Psi =-Uy+A{e}^{-(x^2+y^2)/a^2}$, the maximum opposing zonal disturbance speed is $\sqrt{2/e}|A|/a$. Below the displayed threshold the zonal velocity never changes sign and streamlines cannot close. Above it two stagnation points appear on the symmetry axis: one has definite Hessian and is a center, the other has indefinite Hessian and is a saddle. Closed contours surround the center. Equality is a degenerate onset, not a finite-area closed-cell regime.

Homogenizing the potential vorticity over a finite constant bottom slope creates the odd anomaly displayed here while leaving the exterior unchanged. Inverting $({\partial }_y^2-L_R^{-2})\psi =\Delta Q$ with decay at both infinities and matching $\psi ,{\psi }_y$ gives a central return current and flanking jets. The deformation radius sets the smoothing length. For $L_R\ll a$, the central surface follows the bottom slope to leading order, but edge corrections and decaying exterior flow are essential.

A positive jump $\Delta Q$ of shallow-water quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity supports a current $U=U_0{e}^{-|y|/L_R}$ with $U_0=L_R\Delta Q/2$. A disturbance has structure $\varphi =A{e}^{-\sqrt{k^2+L_R^{-2}}|y|}$. Integrating the linear potential-vorticity conservation equation across the interface gives $(U_0-c)[{\varphi }_y]+\Delta Q\varphi (0)=0$, hence the displayed dispersion relation. The wave propagates intrinsically against the mean current because the displaced PV interface induces the velocity that advects it; no planetary beta is required.

The barotropic deformation radius is the horizontal scale at which free-surface gravity and rotation balance. It contributes $L_D^{-2}$ to the denominator of the one-layer Rossby-wave dispersion relation.