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Studies of planetary scale waves and instabilities in support of the geophysical fluid flow cell experiment on USML-2High resolution numerical simulations of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating channel with gravity perpendicular to the rotation vector are described. The convecting columns are subject to a beta-effect resulting from cross-channel topographic vortex stretching. The symmetries of the problem allow many invariant wavenumber sets, and this property is associated with the existence of stable multiple-equilibria at modest supercriticality. The transition to chaotic behavior involves the production of intermittent unstable orbits off a two-torus in energy space. At very high Rayleigh number (of order 10(exp 6) to 10(exp 7)) the motion can be turbulent, depending on the size of beta. However, the turbulence is usually characterized by an almost-periodic formation of patches of small scale convection that cause regular pulsations in the accompanying strong zonal jets. The processes maintaining these flows may be related to those responsible for the zonal currents on Jupiter and for cyclic variability on the Sun.
Document ID
19950021495
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Contractor Report (CR)
Authors
Hart, J. E. (Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
May 30, 1995
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Report/Patent Number
NAS 1.26:198646
NASA-CR-198646
Accession Number
95N27916
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG8-1077
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG8-190
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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