In this paper, we look for an operator that describes the relationship
between small errors in representation of the bottom topography in a barotropic
ocean model and the model's solution. The study shows that the model's solution
is very sensitive to topography perturbations in regions where the flow is
turbulent. On the other hand, the flow exhibits low sensitivity in laminar
regions. The quantitative measure of sensitivity is influenced essentially by
the error growing time. At short time scales, the sensitivity exhibits the
polynomial dependence on the error growing time. And in the long time limit,
the dependence becomes exponential
