The instabilities of shallow shear flows are analyzed to study exchanges processes across shear flows in inland and coastal waters, coastal and ocean currents, and winds across the thermal-and-moisture fronts. These shear flows observed in nature are driven by gravity and governed by the shallow water equations (SWE). A highly accurate, and robust, computational scheme has been developed to solve these SWE. Time integration of the SWE was carried out using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme. A third-order upwind bias finite difference approximation known as QUICK (Quadratic Upstream Interpolation of Convective Kinematics) was employed for the spatial discretization. The numerical oscillations were controlled using flux limiters for Total Variation Diminishing (TVD). Direct numerical simulations (DNS) were conducted for the base flow with the TANH velocity profile, and the base flow in the form of a jet with the SECH velocity profile. The depth across the base flows was selected for the' balance of the driving forces. In the rotating flow simulation, the Coriolis force in the lateral direction was perfectly in balance with the pressure gradient across the shear flow during the simulation. The development of instabilities in the shear flows was considered for a range of convective Froude number, friction number, and Rossby number. The DNS of the SWE has produced linear results that are consistent with classical stability analyses based on the normal mode approach, and new results that had not been determined by the classical method. The formation of eddies, and the generation of shocklets subsequent to the linear instabilities were computed as part of the DNS. Without modelling the small scales, the simulation was able to produce the correct turbulent spreading rate in agreement with the experimental observations. The simulations have identified radiation damping, in addition to friction damping, as a primary factor of influence on the instability of the shear flows admissible to waves. A convective Froude number correlated the energy lost due to radiation damping. The friction number determined the energy lost due to friction. A significant fraction of available energy produced by the shear flow is lost due the radiation of waves at high convective Froude number. This radiation of gravity waves in shallow gravity-stratified shear flow, and its dependence on the convective Froude number, is shown to be analogous to the Mach-number effect in compressible flow. Furthermore, and most significantly, is the discovery from the simulation the crucial role of the radiation damping in the development of shear flows in the rotating earth. Rings and eddies were produced by the rotating-flow simulations in a range of Rossby numbers, as they were observed in the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic, Jet Stream in the atmosphere, and various fronts across currents in coastal waters.

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