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12.804

12.804 - Large-scale Flow Dynamics Laboratory

This version of the class uses Octave and an interface to the web called "mocha." To begin, I'd suggest clicking on the "geostrophic adjustment (numerical)" link and then the "Get Progam" link. The xterm window should show that some codes have been downloaded. Minimize the download window. Hit a "begin solution" link, and you should see the plots of the surface elevation and the along-channel flow.

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. 2d pv inversion (num at)
  2. 2d pv inversion (num oc)
  3. Gulf Stream PV and inversion (oc)
  4. Atmospheric PV and inversion (at) - see here for more on plotting atmospheric data
  5. Atmospheric PV and inversion (old at)
  6. radial inflow (tank)

  7. Gulf Stream geostrophy (ocean)
  8. geostrophic adjustment (atmosphere)
  9. geostrophic adjustment (tank)
  10. geostrophic adjustment (numerical)

  11. point vortices (num)
  12. vortex interactions (at)
  13. vortex interactions (tank)
  14. Rossby waves, barotropic pv inversion (num)
  15. Rossby waves (tank)
  16. Rossby waves (oc)

  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. higher order balance -- 3d pv inversion (at)
  24. 2 layer pv inversion/ baroclinic evolution and instability (num)
  25. baroclinic instability (tank)

  26. Coriolis forces (laboratory)
  27. geostrophic and ageostrophic motion (at)
  28. geostrophic balance and the barotropic vorticity eqn. (num)
  29. quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity and omega equation(at)

Rotating table info

Mocha