Zonal flows,Rossby waves,and vortex transport in laboratory experiments with rotating annular channel

Results of experiments are considered for flows generated by different sources-sinks of mass in the rotating annular channel with beta-effect simulation using the inclined bottom. Diagrams of regimes are presented in parameters of the dimensionless angular velocity of the zonal flow averaged over the channel width and the dimensionless angular velocity of transport of vortex perturbations of cyclonic and anticyclonic types. In experiments and the simplest linear theories, most attention is paid to diagram regions with a slow motion of vortices relative to the rotating coordinate system near the parameters for stationary Rossby waves.     

Emergence of sub(super)-rotation and jet streams from small-scale quasi-two-dimensional vortices in laboratory experiments

This paper presents the results of experiments in a circular stationary and rotating channels with thin layers of conductive fluid for configurations consisting of a large number of permanent magnets and providing the MHD generation of small-scale velocity fields. The alternating radial configurations of magnets were chosen in such a way as to ensure the conservation of a discrete symmetry of their mutual arrangement relative to rotations of the circular channel around a central axis and were formed on the basis of numerical calculations with the shallow-water equations. Both in numerical and laboratory experiments, large-scale nearly circular vortices were obtained as a result of the energy transfer from the system of externally generated small-scale vortices to large-scale velocity fields (inverse cascade) under the influence of the Coriolis force in the rotating case. Single large-scale vortices and wide jet streams appear in subrotation and superrotation modes relative to external rotation, depending on its angular velocity. Rotation in a nearly circular vortex has a differential character with a decrease in the angular velocity of rotation with the radius in most area of the channel.     

Effect of three-dimensional structures on the dynamics of turbulence in thin layers of fluid in a laboratory experiment

The results of experiments on turbulent flows excited by the Ampere force in a thin layer of a conducting fluid over a solid surface upon the passage of a current and the action of a spatially periodic magnetic field are considered. Third-order longitudinal structure functions of the velocity field are shown to be approximately linear in the spatial shift and negative even at horizontal scales that exceed the layer thickness by an order of magnitude. This is how the three-dimensional dynamics is manifested as a result of the dominant contribution of energy dissipation when the no-slip boundary condition is satisfied on the lower surface. Dissipation and the main summands of energy production have been estimated for the energy-balance equation.     

Nonlinear Ekman friction and asymmetry of cyclonic and anticyclonic coherent structures in geophysical flows

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Vertical Helicity Flux as an Index of General Atmospheric Circulation

As an index of the general atmospheric circulation over the hemisphere, it is proposed to calculate the hemisphere-area-averaged (poleward of the latitude 20°) product of the Coriolis parameter by the wind velocity squared at the upper boundary of the planetary boundary layer. In practical calculations, data on the wind velocity at an isobaric level of 850 hPa were used. Control calculations for the 900 hPa level gave similar results. It is shown that the index introduced adequately characterizes the seasonal and interannual variability of the general atmospheric circulation over both hemispheres.     

Vertical structure of the quasi-two-dimensional velocity field of a viscous incompressible flow and the problem of nonlinear friction

An approximate theory is constructed to describe quasi-two-dimensional viscous incompressible flows. This theory takes into account a weak circulation in the vertical plane and the related divergence of the two-dimensional velocity field. The role of the nonlinear terms that are due to the interaction between the vortex and potential components of velocity and the possibility of taking into account the corresponding effects in the context of the concept of bottom friction are analyzed. It is shown that the nonlinear character of friction is a consequence of the three-dimensional character of flow, which results in the effective interaction of vortices with vertical and horizontal axes. An approximation of the effect of this interaction in quasi-two-dimensional equations is obtained with the use of the coefficient of nonlinear friction. The results based on this approximation are compared to the data of laboratory experiments on the excitation of a spatially periodic fluid flow.     

On the Structures Observed in Thin Rotating Layers of a Conductive Fluid and the Anomalies of the Geomagnetic Field

The results of the laboratory and numerical experiments in circular rotating trays with thin layers of a conductive fluid under the MHD generation of small-scale velocity fields are presented. The configurations of constant magnets for MHD generation were determined based on the numerical calculations with shallow water equations. Both the laboratory and numerical experiments with rotating trays demonstrate the emergence of nonaxisymmetric structures and large-scale near-circular vortices caused by the energy transfer from the system of the externally generated small-scale vortices to the large-scale velocity fields under the action of the Coriolis force. The near-circular vortex has areas with differential rotation when the angular velocity of rotation decreases with the radius. The single large-scale vortices and wide jet flows arise in the regimes of subrotation and superrotation relative to the external rotation depending on its angular velocity. The emergence of the flow structures with the azimuthal wave number m = 2 is demonstrated, and their probable relation to the anomalies of the geomagnetic field observed on the Earth’s surface is considered.