scholarly journals The role of curvature in modifying frontal instabilities, part 1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian E. Buckingham ◽  
Jonathan Gula ◽  
Xavier Carton
Keyword(s):  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Additional Term ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
General Criterion ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
Classical Criterion ◽  
Vorticity Vector ◽  
Stable Flow

AbstractIn this study, we examine the role of curvature in modifying frontal stability. We first evaluate the classical criterion that the Coriolis parameter, f, multiplied by the Ertel potential vorticity (PV), q, is positive for stable flow and that instability is possible when this quantity is negative. The first portion of this statement can be deduced from Ertel’s PV theorem, assuming an initially positive fq. Moreover, the full statement is implicit in the governing equation for the mean flow, as the discriminant, fq, changes sign. However, for curved fronts in cyclo-geostrophic or gradient wind balance (GWB), an additional term enters the discriminant owing to conservation of absolute angular momentum, L. The resulting expression, Lq < 0, simultaneously generalizes Rayleigh’s (1917) criterion by accounting for baroclinicity and Hoskins’ (1974) criterion by accounting for centrifugal effects. In particular, changes in the front’s vertical shear and stratification owing to curvature tilt the absolute vorticity vector away from its thermal wind state; in an effort to conserve the product of absolute angular momentum and Ertel PV, this modifies gradient Rossby and Richardson numbers permitted for stable flow. This forms the basis of a non-dimensional expression valid for inviscid, curved fronts on the f -plane, which can be used to classify frontal instabilities. In conclusion, the classical criterion, fq < 0, should be replaced by the more general criterion, Lq < 0, for studies involving gravitational, centrifugal, and symmetric instabilities at curved density fronts. In Part 2 of the study, we examine interesting outcomes of the criterion applied to low-Richardson number fronts and vortices in GWB.

scholarly journals The role of double-diffusive convection in basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. e2007541118
Author(s):  
Madelaine Gamble Rosevear ◽  
Bishakhdatta Gayen ◽  
Benjamin Keith Galton-Fenzi
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Double Diffusive Convection ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Diffusive Convection ◽  
Double Diffusive

The Antarctic Ice Sheet loses about half its mass through ocean-driven melting of its fringing ice shelves. However, the ocean processes governing ice shelf melting are not well understood, contributing to uncertainty in projections of Antarctica’s contribution to global sea level. We use high-resolution large-eddy simulation to examine ocean-driven melt, in a geophysical-scale model of the turbulent ice shelf–ocean boundary layer, focusing on the ocean conditions observed beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. We quantify the role of double-diffusive convection in determining ice shelf melt rates and oceanic mixed layer properties in relatively warm and low-velocity cavity environments. We demonstrate that double-diffusive convection is the first-order process controlling the melt rate and mixed layer evolution at these flow conditions, even more important than vertical shear due to a mean flow, and is responsible for the step-like temperature and salinity structure, or thermohaline staircase, observed beneath the ice. A robust feature of the multiday simulations is a growing saline diffusive sublayer that drives a time-dependent melt rate. This melt rate is lower than current ice–ocean parameterizations, which consider only shear-controlled turbulent melting, would predict. Our main finding is that double-diffusive convection is an important process beneath ice shelves, yet is currently neglected in ocean–climate models.

Kinematical evolution of Globular Clusters

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 524-527
Author(s):  
Maria A. Tiongco ◽  
Enrico Vesperini ◽  
Anna Lisa Varri
Keyword(s):  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Velocity Space ◽  
Fundamental Understanding

AbstractWe present several results of the study of the evolution of globular clusters’ internal kinematics, as driven by two-body relaxation and the interplay between internal angular momentum and the external Galactic tidal field. Via a large suite of N-body simulations, we explored the three-dimensional velocity space of tidally perturbed clusters, by characterizing their degree of velocity dispersion anisotropy and their rotational properties. These studies have shown that a cluster’s kinematical properties contain distinct imprints of the cluster’s initial structural properties, dynamical history, and tidal environment. Building on this fundamental understanding, we then studied the dynamics of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters, with attention to the largely unexplored role of angular momentum.

scholarly journals Galaxy Dynamics: Secular Evolution and Accretion

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S271) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francoise Combes
Keyword(s):  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Resonant Scattering ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Radial Migration ◽  
Galaxy Dynamics ◽  
Secular Evolution ◽  
Minor Mergers ◽  
Gas Accretion

AbstractRecent results are reviewed on galaxy dynamics, bar evolution, destruction and re-formation, cold gas accretion, gas radial flows and AGN fueling, minor mergers. Some problems of galaxy evolution are discussed in particular, exchange of angular momentum, radial migration through resonant scattering, and consequences on abundance gradients, the frequency of bulgeless galaxies, and the relative role of secular evolution and hierarchical formation.

Eddy Modulation of Air–Sea Interaction and Convection

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Cerovečki ◽  
John Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Mode Water ◽  
Ocean Eddies ◽  
Eddy Heat Flux ◽  
Water Formation ◽  
Transformed Eulerian Mean

Abstract Eddy modulation of the air–sea interaction and convection that occurs in the process of mode water formation is analyzed in simulations of a baroclinically unstable wind- and buoyancy-driven jet. The watermass transformation analysis of Walin is used to estimate the formation rate of mode water and to characterize the role of eddies in that process. It is found that diabatic eddy heat flux divergences in the mixed layer are comparable in magnitude, but of opposite sign, to the surface air–sea heat flux and largely cancel the direct effect of buoyancy loss to the atmosphere. The calculations suggest that mode water formation estimates based on climatological air–sea heat flux data and outcrops, which do not fully resolve ocean eddies, may neglect a large opposing term in the heat budget and are thus likely to significantly overestimate true formation rates. In Walin’s watermass transformation framework, this manifests itself as a sensitivity of formation rate estimates to the averaging period over which the outcrops and air–sea fluxes are subjected. The key processes are described in terms of a transformed Eulerian-mean formalism in which eddy-induced mean flow tends to cancel the Eulerian-mean flow, resulting in weaker residual mean flow, subduction, and mode water formation rates.

scholarly journals On strongly nonlinear gravity waves in a vertically sheared atmosphere

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Mark Schlutow ◽  
Georg S. Voelker
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Lower Layer ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Horizontal Wind ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Individual Layer ◽  
Strongly Nonlinear ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Stability

Abstract We investigate strongly nonlinear stationary gravity waves which experience refraction due to a thin vertical shear layer of horizontal background wind. The velocity amplitude of the waves is of the same order of magnitude as the background flow and hence the self-induced mean flow alters the modulation properties to leading order. In this theoretical study, we show that the stability of such a refracted wave depends on the classical modulation stability criterion for each individual layer, above and below the shearing. Additionally, the stability is conditioned by novel instability criteria providing bounds on the mean-flow horizontal wind and the amplitude of the wave. A necessary condition for instability is that the mean-flow horizontal wind in the upper layer is stronger than the wind in the lower layer.

Eddy-mediated Hadley cell expansion due to axisymmetric angular momentum adjustment to greenhouse gas forcings

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Davis ◽  
Thomas Birner
Keyword(s):  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Cell Expansion ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Equilibrium Temperature ◽  
Hadley Cell ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Fully Coupled

AbstractThe poleward expansion of the Hadley cells is one of the most robust modeled responses to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. There are many proposed mechanisms for expansion, and most are consistent with modeled changes in thermodynamics, dynamics, and clouds. The adjustment of the eddies and the mean flow to greenhouse gas forcings, and to one another, complicates any effort toward a deeper understanding. Here we modify the Gray Radiation AND Moist Aquaplanet (GRANDMA) model to uncouple the eddy and mean flow responses to forcings. When eddy forcings are held constant, the purely axisymmetric response of the Hadley cell to a greenhouse gas-like forcing is an intensification and poleward tilting of the cell with height in response to an axisymmetric increase in angular momentum in the subtropics. The angular momentum increase drastically alters the circulation response compared to axisymmetric theories, which by nature neglect this adjustment. Model simulations and an eddy diffusivity framework demonstrate that the axisymmetric increase in subtropical angular momentum – the direct manifestation of the radiative-convective equilibrium temperature response – drives a poleward shift of the eddy stresses which leads to Hadley cell expansion. Prescribing the eddy response to the greenhouse gas-like forcing shows that eddies damp, rather than drive, changes in angular momentum, moist static energy transport, and momentum transport. Expansion is not driven by changes in baroclinic instability, as would otherwise be diagnosed from the fully-coupled simulation. These modeling results caution any assessment of mechanisms for circulation change within the fully-coupled wave-mean flow system.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Extreme Stratospheric Negative Heat Flux Events in an Idealized Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 3521-3540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Dunn-Sigouin ◽  
Tiffany Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Wave Interaction ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Flow Mechanism ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Idealized Model

Recent work has shown that extreme stratospheric wave-1 negative heat flux events couple with the troposphere via an anomalous wave-1 signal. Here, a dry dynamical core model is used to investigate the dynamical mechanisms underlying the events. Ensemble spectral nudging experiments are used to isolate the role of specific dynamical components: 1) the wave-1 precursor, 2) the stratospheric zonal-mean flow, and 3) the higher-order wavenumbers. The negative events are partially reproduced when nudging the wave-1 precursor and the zonal-mean flow whereas they are not reproduced when nudging either separately. Nudging the wave-1 precursor and the higher-order wavenumbers reproduces the events, including the evolution of the stratospheric zonal-mean flow. Mechanism denial experiments, whereby one component is fixed to the climatology and others are nudged to the event evolution, suggest higher-order wavenumbers play a role by modifying the zonal-mean flow and through stratospheric wave–wave interaction. Nudging all tropospheric wave precursors (wave-1 and higher-order wavenumbers) confirms they are the source of the stratospheric waves. Nudging all stratospheric waves reproduces the tropospheric wave-1 signal. Taken together, the experiments suggest the events are consistent with downward wave propagation from the stratosphere to the troposphere and highlight the key role of higher-order wavenumbers.

scholarly journals Interannual Variability of Tropical Cyclones in the Australian Region: Role of Large-Scale Environment

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1083-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish A. Ramsay ◽  
Lance M. Leslie ◽  
Peter J. Lamb ◽  
Michael B. Richman ◽  
Mark Leplastrier
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Relative Vorticity ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Scale Parameters ◽  
Australian Region ◽  
Sst Variability

Abstract This study investigates the role of large-scale environmental factors, notably sea surface temperature (SST), low-level relative vorticity, and deep-tropospheric vertical wind shear, in the interannual variability of November–April tropical cyclone (TC) activity in the Australian region. Extensive correlation analyses were carried out between TC frequency and intensity and the aforementioned large-scale parameters, using TC data for 1970–2006 from the official Australian TC dataset. Large correlations were found between the seasonal number of TCs and SST in the Niño-3.4 and Niño-4 regions. These correlations were greatest (−0.73) during August–October, immediately preceding the Australian TC season. The correlations remain almost unchanged for the July–September period and therefore can be viewed as potential seasonal predictors of the forthcoming TC season. In contrast, only weak correlations (&lt;+0.37) were found with the local SST in the region north of Australia where many TCs originate; these were reduced almost to zero when the ENSO component of the SST was removed by partial correlation analysis. The annual frequency of TCs was found to be strongly correlated with 850-hPa relative vorticity and vertical shear of the zonal wind over the main genesis areas of the Australian region. Furthermore, correlations between the Niño SST and these two atmospheric parameters exhibited a strong link between the Australian region and the Niño-3.4 SST. A principal component analysis of the SST dataset revealed two main modes of Pacific Ocean SST variability that match very closely with the basinwide patterns of correlations between SST and TC frequencies. Finally, it is shown that the correlations can be increased markedly (e.g., from −0.73 to −0.80 for the August–October period) by a weighted combination of SST time series from weakly correlated regions.

The Propagation Mechanism of a Vortex on the β Plane

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 2316-2330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jan van Leeuwen
Keyword(s):  
Coriolis Force ◽  
Opposite Sign ◽  
Propagation Mechanism ◽  
Reduced Gravity ◽  
Background Current ◽  
Background Flow ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
First Order ◽  
Flow Changes

Abstract The propagation velocity and propagation mechanism for vortices on a β plane are determined for a reduced-gravity model by integrating the momentum equations over the β plane. Isolated vortices, vortices in a background current, and initial vortex propagation from rest are studied. The propagation mechanism for isolated anticyclones as well as cyclones, which has been lacking up to now, is presented. It is shown that, to first order, the vortex moves to generate a Coriolis force on the mass anomaly of the vortex to compensate for the force on the vortex due to the variation of the Coriolis parameter. Only the mass anomaly of the vortex is of importance, because the Coriolis force due to the motion of the bulk of the layer moving with the vortex is almost fully compensated by the Coriolis force on the motion of the exterior flow. Because the mass anomaly of a cyclone is negative the force and acceleration have opposite sign. The role of dipolar structures in steadily moving vortices is discussed, and it is shown that their overall structure is fixed by the steady westward motion of the mass anomaly. Furthermore, it is shown that reduced-gravity vortices are not advected with a background flow. The reason for this behavior is that the background flow changes the ambient vorticity gradient such that the vortex obtains an extra self-propagation term that exactly cancels the advection by the background flow. Last, it is shown that a vortex initially at rest will accelerate equatorward first, after which a westward motion is generated. This result is independent of the sign of the vortex.

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