Vortices in sinusoidal shear, with applications to Jupiter
Name
958837833-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
14.17 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
38ebdbbec9e6c0fadbd8a8a7d69babfd
Author(s)
Vilasur Swaminathan, Rohith
Advisor(s)
Glenn R. Flierl.
Date Issued
2016
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In this thesis, we have studied the existence of vortex steady states in a sinusoidal background shear flow in a 1.75 layer quasi-geostrophic model. Trying to find vortex structures by integrating the Hamiltonian system has the drawback that the vortices lose enstrophy by filamentation and numerical dissipation, while continuing to deform and wobble. Adopting the local optimization technique of Hamiltonian Dirac Simulated Annealing overcomes this drawback and allows us to obtain steady/quasi-steady vortices that have roughly the same area as that of the initial vortex. The steady states that we have generated range from elliptical with major axis aligned with the flow in the prograde shear region to triangular at the latitude where prograde and adverse shear meet and back to elliptical but with the major axis aligned perpendicular to the shear flow at the center of the adverse shear region. The steady states calculated by the above technique can be used for further analysis and as an initial condition to study the merger of vortices in background shear. This result is directly applicable to the kind of dynamics visible on planets like Jupiter, where vortices residing in zonal shear are a common occurrence.
Description
Thesis: S.M., Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-99).
Subjects
Joint Program in Physical Oceanography.
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
MIT Department
Joint Program in Physical Oceanography
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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