Vortical and wave modes in 3D rotating stratified flows: random large-scale forcing

DOI10.1080/03091920801915318MaRDI QIDQ5869915zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 13 January 2023

Published in Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0705.2452

Boussinesq equations rotating and stratified turbulence

Stochastic analysis applied to problems in fluid mechanics (76M35) General theory of rotating fluids (76U05) Hydrology, hydrography, oceanography (86A05)

Abstract: Utilizing an eigenfunction decomposition, we study the growth and spectra of energy in the vortical and wave modes of a 3D rotating stratified fluid as a function of

e p s i l o n = f / N

. Working in regimes characterized by moderate Burger numbers, i.e.

B u = 1 / e p s i l o n^{2} < 1

or

B u g e 1

, our results indicate profound change in the character of vortical and wave mode interactions with respect to

B u = 1

. As with the reference state of

e p s i l o n = 1

, for

e p s i l o n < 1

the wave mode energy saturates quite quickly and the ensuing forward cascade continues to act as an efficient means of dissipating ageostrophic energy. Further, these saturated spectra steepen as

e p s i l o n

decreases: we see a shift from

k^{- 1}

to

k^{- 5 / 3}

scaling for

k_{f} < k < k_{d}

(where

k_{f}

and

k_{d}

are the forcing and dissipation scales, respectively). On the other hand, when

e p s i l o n > 1

the wave mode energy never saturates and comes to dominate the total energy in the system. In fact, in a sense the wave modes behave in an asymmetric manner about

e p s i l o n = 1

. With regard to the vortical modes, for

e p s i l o n l e 1

, the signatures of 3D quasigeostrophy are clearly evident. Specifically, we see a

k^{- 3}

scaling for

k_{f} < k < k_{d}

and, in accord with an inverse transfer of energy, the vortical mode energy never saturates but rather increases for all

k < k_{f}

. In contrast, for

e p s i l o n > 1

and increasing, the vortical modes contain a progressively smaller fraction of the total energy indicating that the 3D quasigeostrophic subsystem plays an energetically smaller role in the overall dynamics.

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