Contour surgery simulations of a forced polar vortex
- Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
High-resolution simulations of a polar vortex disturbed by quasi-topographic forcing are performed using the method of [open quotes]contour surgery,[close quotes] a numerical method for inviscid flows wherein arbitrarily steep vorticity gradients can be formed and wherein scales of motion can vary over an extensive range. Simulations are performed of inviscid, incompressible, barotropic motion on the hemisphere, the sphere, and the plane. Comparisons with a hemispherical pseudospectral simulation show that accurate contour surgery simulations can be performed using a moderate number of contours to represent each hemisphere. Intermodel comparisons show that, although the overall evolution of the flow is qualitatively similar, there are noticeable differences. There is a significant difference between spherical and hemispherical calculations but, surprisingly, a remarkable agreement between spherical and planar calculations when a spatially varying planetary vorticity is used in the planar calculations.
- OSTI ID:
- 6506590
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences; (United States), Vol. 50:5; ISSN 0022-4928
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
VORTEX FLOW
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
POLAR REGIONS
STRATOSPHERE
TOPOGRAPHY
CRYOSPHERE
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
FLUID FLOW
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
SIMULATION
540110*
990200 - Mathematics & Computers