Quasi-Geostrophic Turbulence
I. F-Plane
Below are images of the potential vorticity field for a computation on
an "f-plane", i.e. rotation with constant Coriolis parameter, at a
resolution of 320^3. One sees that starting from random initial
conditions, the fluid self-organizes into coherent vortices. These
vortices subsequently advect each other, merge to form larger
vortices, and align vertically.
Still Images
Animations
- Vortex Advection Movie, 218 KB
An animation calculated at a resolution of 256^3 with high
temporal resolution showing the mutual advection of vortices.
- Vortex Evolution Movie, 796 KB
An animation calculated at a resolution of 256^3 with relatively low
temporal resolution covering the entire computation showing the vortex
evolution.
II. Beta-Plane
Below are images of the potential vorticity field from a simulation
on the "beta-plane", i.e. with linear latitudinal variation in the
Coriolis parameter, at a resolution of 256^3. The coherent vortices
now grow through merger and alignment until they reach the scale where
the beta-effect becomes important, at which point dispersive Rossby
waves are excited, destroying the vortices and producing horizontal
jets.
