12.804 - Large-scale Flow Dynamics Laboratory

Schedule:

Class meets Mon 2:30-4:30 and Wed 3:00-4:30

Timetable for fall 05

Note - the version of mocha used now is different from the references here. The examples below use Matlab and an interface to the Web called ; instructions for installation are here.

This is a laboratory course intended to illustrate the concepts presented in 12.803. We will analyze observations of oceanic and atmospheric quasi-balanced flows, computational models, and rotating tank experiments. The projects will illustrate the basic principles of potential vorticity conservation and inversion, Rossby wave propagation, baroclinic instability and the behavior of isolated vortices.

L. Illari, G. Flierl

Concepts

  1. Geostrophic Adjustment
    1. Response to initial conditions
    2. Response to slow forcing
  2. Quasi-geostrophic Balance
    1. Validity of geostrophic approximation
    2. Corrections
  3. Invertability and superposition principles
    1. 2D inversion
    2. 3D
    3. Superposition
  4. Rossby Waves and Frontal Waves
    1. Forced Rossby waves
    2. Waves on a PV front, comparison to Rossby waves
    3. Nonlinear dynamics, Rossby wave instabilities
  5. Higher Order Balance
  6. Baroclinic Instability
    1. Linear growth
    2. Nonlinear dynamics - secondary instability, PV fluxes
  7. Ageostrophic Motion

Planned experiments (as of now)

  1. Coriolis forces (numerical)
  2. Coriolis forces (laboratory)

  3. geostrophic and ageostrophic motion (at)
  4. geostrophic balance and the barotropic vorticity eqn. (num)
  5. Gulf Stream geostrophy (ocean)
  6. radial inflow (tank)

  7. point vortices (num)
  8. vortex interactions (at)
  9. vortex interactions (tank)

  10. geostrophic adjustment (atmosphere)
  11. geostrophic adjustment (tank)
  12. geostrophic adjustment (numerical)

  13. Rossby waves, barotropic pv inversion (num)
  14. Rossby waves (tank)
  15. Rossby waves (oc)
  16. quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity and omega equation(at)

  17. isentropic potential vorticity, tropopause maps, and frontal waves (at)
  18. frontal waves (oc)
  19. frontal waves (num: 1 and 2 fronts)
  20. frontal waves (tank)
  21. circular front
  22. multiple circular fronts

  23. 2d pv inversion (at)
  24. 2d pv inversion (oc)

  25. higher order balance -- 3d pv inversion (at)
  26. Gulf Stream PV and inversion (oc)
  27. 2 layer pv inversion/ baroclinic evolution and instability (num)
  28. baroclinic instability (tank)

Rotating table info

Mocha