See an animation of the ocean surface height at latitude 17N in the Pacific.	See a similar animation, for latitude 27N.

 
 

See an animation of Rossby waves in the North Pacific.  Top panel: animation in (Lat,Lon) coordinates. Rossby waves can be seen propagating from east to west. Black line indicates the latitude (17N) Center panel: Visualization of the ocean height at the indicated latitude. Rossby waves can be seen propagating from east to west, and the entire surface is seen to heave up and down with a one-year period as the ocean heats and cools with the seasons. Bottom panel: Plot of the ocean height at 17N, shown as height as a function of longitude and time. Diagonal streaks represent the propagation of Rossby waves. Broad horizontal bands represent expansion and contracton of the upper ocean layer due to solar heating. In the animation a horizontal line sweeps downward, indicating the time of the top two panels. These animations are fairly large, and are best downloaded over a fast link.  Low resolution: 1162k Quicktime movie Medium resolution:  2323k Quicktime movie

 
 

See an animation of Rossby waves in the Pacific as they travel from east to west.