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Rotating dipolar gyres on a gamma-plane

Phys. Fluids 20, 036603 (2008); doi:10.1063/1.2890083

Published 14 March 2008

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Oleg G. Derzho1,2 and Yakov D. Afanasyev2
1Institute of Thermophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
2Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, A1B 3X7 Newfoundland, Canada
Nonlinear dipolar vortices/gyres on a gamma-plane are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The solutions describe a fundamental dipolar mode of large scale barotropic motion of the polar ocean or atmosphere on the rotating planet. The entire dipolar gyre is predicted to rotate anticyclonically with a specific angular velocity. The existence and stability of the theoretically predicted flow are confirmed in a laboratory experiment on a rotating platform. The laboratory flows are induced by an electromagnetic method and are observed using the nonintrusive optical method of altimetric imaging velocimetry. The rotation rate of the experimental flow is in good agreement with that predicted theoretically. Detailed measurements of the velocity field and surface elevation demonstrate that an assumption of linearity of the relation between the relative vorticity and the stream function is valid. ©2008 American Institute of Physics
History: Received 29 August 2007; accepted 11 February 2008; published 14 March 2008
Permalink: http://link.aip.org/link/?PHFLE6/20/036603/1
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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords
PACS
  • 92.10.Lq
    Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes in oceanography
  • YEAR: 2008

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ISSN:
1070-6631 (print)   1089-7666 (online)
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