Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T10:47:06.261Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The horizontal scale of rotating convection in the geostrophic regime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 1997

SATOSHI SAKAI
Affiliation:
School of Earth Sciences, IHS, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-01, Japan

Abstract

The horizontal scale of rotating convection with rigid boundary conditions is studied. The range of Rayleigh number concerned is moderate, i.e. large enough to induce a finite-amplitude convection but small enough so that the geostrophic processes are significant.

On considering an experimental law of the Nusselt number and some constraints of elemental geostrophic processes, the horizontal scale of the convection can be estimated. This estimation strongly depends on the ratio between the thicknesses of the Ekman layer and the thermal boundary layer, and does not depend monotonically on the Rayleigh number. This dependency is compatible with the experimental results of Rossby (1969).

The estimated horizontal scale was checked by laboratory experiments. The horizontal temperature distribution was visualized by thermal liquid-crystal capsules dispersed in the working fluid. The horizontal scale was measured by counting vortices. The experimental results agree fairly well with the estimated scale.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)