TheRhineseffectmayberegardedasaninteractionbetweenRossbywavesandturbulence,inwhichtheRossbywavesmayradiateawayeddyenergywhentheirfrequenciesareequalorlargerthanthoseoftheturbulence,therebydeformingandeventuallydestroyingtheexistingeddies.Throughcomparingeddy-scalevelocityandlongRossbywavephasespeedintheoceans,ageneralizedformoftheRhineseffectisexaminedonthegeographicalcharacteristicsofaltimeter-observededdies.TheresultsshowthatthegeneralizedRhineseffecthasamuchgreaterinfluenceoneddycharacteristicsthanitsclassicalform,whichonlyconsidersthesimplebetaeffectduetothemeridionalgradientofplanetaryvorticity.Thelargestamountofeddiesaredetectedinregionswhereeddy-scalevelocityislargerthanthecriticalRossby-wavephasespeedconsideringageneralizedbetaeffect.Theeddiesinthoseregionscangrowviaaninversekineticenergycascadeandhavemuchlargeramplitudesandsizes.The'eddydesert'regionsoutsideofthetropicaloceans,whichhavefarfewerdetectededdiesandmuchweakereddyamplitudes,lieinareaswheretheeddy-scalevelocityislessthanthecriticalRossby-wavephasespeed.Inthoseregions,thegeneralizedRhineseffectmaybeapossiblemechanismofsuppressingeddygrowth.
