Wave Pattern Formation from Thermal Convection in a Horizontal Shear Flow

We perform numerical experiments, linear stability analyses and energy analyses of thermal convection in a horizontal sine-type shear flow which was researched by Furukawa and Niino(2006). Furukawa and Niino(2006) concluded that it was energy conversion from baroclinic components of thermal convection that excited a barotropic wave of zonal wavenumber 1 in a horizontal sine-type shear flow. However, our detailed analyses show that barotropic instability plays a more important role. Furthermore, our detailed linear stability analyses show that the breakdown of the roll pattern of thermal convection is due to the instability of the steady convection rolls.