Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres
Baroclinic instability is the principal mode of non-axisymmetric flow in the large-scale atmospheric circulation at mid-latitudes, and is responsible for oganising the structure and behaviour of major weather systems. This instability can also be fruitfully studied in the laboratory under controlled...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Conference item |
| Published: |
1998
|
| _version_ | 1797097749496201216 |
|---|---|
| author | Read, P Collins, M Fruh, W Lewis, SR Lovegrove, A |
| author_facet | Read, P Collins, M Fruh, W Lewis, SR Lovegrove, A |
| author_sort | Read, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Baroclinic instability is the principal mode of non-axisymmetric flow in the large-scale atmospheric circulation at mid-latitudes, and is responsible for oganising the structure and behaviour of major weather systems. This instability can also be fruitfully studied in the laboratory under controlled conditions. In this paper, we review recent work carried out by the authors and collaborators on various routes to chaotic behaviour in rotating, stratified flows. Results include the discovery of new multi-mode regimes in which small ensembles of baroclinic waves interact in a nonlinear mode competition with the thermally-driven axisymmetric component of the Bow, generating chaotic oscillatory variability on very long timescales. We discuss various attempts to capture this type of behaviour in simple models, and consider the significance of the phenomenon as a paradigm for understanding the nature of long timescale variability in the climates of the Earth and Mars. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:59:41Z |
| format | Conference item |
| id | oxford-uuid:d7dafc72-b016-4f08-9d88-2c7c424e3300 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:59:41Z |
| publishDate | 1998 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:d7dafc72-b016-4f08-9d88-2c7c424e33002022-03-27T08:44:01ZWave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheresConference itemhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794uuid:d7dafc72-b016-4f08-9d88-2c7c424e3300Symplectic Elements at Oxford1998Read, PCollins, MFruh, WLewis, SRLovegrove, ABaroclinic instability is the principal mode of non-axisymmetric flow in the large-scale atmospheric circulation at mid-latitudes, and is responsible for oganising the structure and behaviour of major weather systems. This instability can also be fruitfully studied in the laboratory under controlled conditions. In this paper, we review recent work carried out by the authors and collaborators on various routes to chaotic behaviour in rotating, stratified flows. Results include the discovery of new multi-mode regimes in which small ensembles of baroclinic waves interact in a nonlinear mode competition with the thermally-driven axisymmetric component of the Bow, generating chaotic oscillatory variability on very long timescales. We discuss various attempts to capture this type of behaviour in simple models, and consider the significance of the phenomenon as a paradigm for understanding the nature of long timescale variability in the climates of the Earth and Mars. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Read, P Collins, M Fruh, W Lewis, SR Lovegrove, A Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| title | Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| title_full | Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| title_fullStr | Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| title_short | Wave interactions and baroclinic chaos: A paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| title_sort | wave interactions and baroclinic chaos a paradigm for long timescale variability in planetary atmospheres |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT readp waveinteractionsandbaroclinicchaosaparadigmforlongtimescalevariabilityinplanetaryatmospheres AT collinsm waveinteractionsandbaroclinicchaosaparadigmforlongtimescalevariabilityinplanetaryatmospheres AT fruhw waveinteractionsandbaroclinicchaosaparadigmforlongtimescalevariabilityinplanetaryatmospheres AT lewissr waveinteractionsandbaroclinicchaosaparadigmforlongtimescalevariabilityinplanetaryatmospheres AT lovegrovea waveinteractionsandbaroclinicchaosaparadigmforlongtimescalevariabilityinplanetaryatmospheres |