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Results for “baroclinic instabilities”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8
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NASA NTRS1987

Near-symmetric instability for general Prandtl number

An analysis of the stability of a simple baroclinic flow to perturbations whose horizontal wave vector lies in and near the vertical plane containing the density gradient has been performed. The Ekman number (E) and 'azimuthal' wavenumber (alpha) were both assumed much less than 1, and expansions about these quantities were performed for the eigenmodes and Richardson number (R). Agreement with the previous analysis of Busse and Chen (1981) that the correction to the critical R was O(alpha) for Prandtl number (P) away from unity was obtained. An expression for the correction to the critical R for arbitrary P, and an approximate expression for P = 1 were obtained as new results. The correction for P = 1 has the same sign as that for P less than 1, and is O(alpha E exp 2/3). This result compares well with the numerical results of Miller and Antar (1986) for small E.

Reynolds, Nathaniel D.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A study of forecast growth with a barotropic model of the atmosphere

A barotropic model of the atmosphere was used to test various sources of forecast error. These errors are classified as truncation error, physical error, or initial error. It was shown that growth patterns due to each category differ significantly. Initial errors were shown not to grow in a barotropic model contrary to reports of other studies which indicate that they basically do grow. Also, random initial errors were shown to decrease due to the filtering effect of the model itself. Results seem to indicate that instabilities are required for error growth, be they barotropic or baroclinic, and that random errors are not representative of true initial conditions.

Halberstam, I. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The influence of meridional shear on planetary waves. I - Nonsingular wind profiles. II - Critical latitudes

An attempt to define a relationship between the strength and curvature of the latitudinal wind shear and the planetary waves is presented. Previous work based on the WKB method is reviewed and compared with Galerkin's method, which is found to be effective when considering low-order modes. The WKB method, however, increases in accuracy with the mode number. Both methods are applied to a linear wind shear profile and the Galerkin method is determined to be significantly superior in predicting the lowest order, and is therefore suitable for formulating the latitudinal structure of quasi-stationary Rossby waves in the middle atmosphere. In a second paper the mean zonal wind is assumed to depend on latitude only, and the effects of critical latitudes, where the Doppler shifter frequency is zero, on planetary waves are shown to include shear-induced instability in Kelvin waves. Further research to assay the extent that baroclinity alters stable winds is indicated.

Boyd, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Interannual Variability in the Observed Circulation

An observational study of the relative roles of transient eddies and the time-mean flow in maintaining the momentum balance and in forcing vertical motion illuminated the role of time-mean secondary circulations forced by transient eddies. These secondary circulations transport westerly momentum from the upper to the lowr troposphere in the storm tracks, accelerating surface westerlies and making the time-mean flow more barotropic. An investigation of teleconnections in the Southern Hemisphere revealed a zonal wavenumber 3 pattern of low-frequency variability in the winterime midlatitudes and a land-ocean seesaw during summer. An observational comparison of the Northern Hemisphere winters found substantial differences in circulation patterns. The circulation changes may have been associated with substantial changes in low-frequency transient eddies in the Pacific, perhaps related to barotropic instability in the exit region of the Asian jet. Changes in the baroclinicity of the low-level flow appeared to be associated with changes in the storm tracks, while changes in the transient eddies appeared to play a minor role in interannual differences in the zonal momentum balance or in the forcing of vertical motion.

White, G. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A numerical scheme to solve unstable boundary value problems

The considered scheme makes it possible to determine an unstable steady state solution in cases in which, because of lack of symmetry, such a solution cannot be obtained analytically, and other time integration or relaxation schemes, because of instability, fail to converge. The iterative solution of a single complex equation is discussed and a nonlinear system of equations is considered. Described applications of the scheme are related to a steady state solution with shear instability, an unstable nonlinear Ekman boundary layer, and the steady state solution of a baroclinic atmosphere with asymmetric forcing. The scheme makes use of forward and backward time integrations of the original spatial differential operators and of an approximation of the adjoint operators. Only two computations of the time derivative per iteration are required.

Kalnay-Rivas, E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Effects of eddy initial conditions on nonlinear forcing of planetary scale waves by amplifying baroclinic eddies

The previous study of Young and Villere concerning growth of planetary scale waves forced by wave-wave interactions of amplifying intermediate scale baroclinic eddies is extended to investigate effects of different eddy initial conditions. A global, spectral, primitive equation model is used for the calculations. For every set of eddy initial conditions considered, growth rates of planetary modes are considerably greater than growth rates computed from linear instability theory for a fixed zonally independent basic state. However, values of growth rates ranged over a factor of 3 depending on the particular set of eddy initial conditions used. Nonlinear forcing of planetary modes via wave-wave coupling becomes more important than baroclinic growth on the basic state at small values of the intermediate-scale modal amplitudes. The relative importance of direct transfer of kinetic energy from intermediate scales of motion to a planetary mode, compared to baroclinic conversion of available potential energy to kinetic energy within that planetary mode, depends on the individual case. In all cases, however, the transfer of either kinetic or available potential energy to the planetary modes was accomplished principally by wave-wave transfer from intermediate scale eddies, rather than from the zonally averaged state. The zonal wavenumber 2 planetary mode was prominent in all solutions, even in those for which eddy initial conditions were such that a different planetary mode was selectively forced at the start. General characteristics of the structural evolution of the planetary wave components of total heat and momentum flux, and modal structures themselves, were relatively insensitive to variations in eddy initial conditions, even though quantitative details varied from case to case.

Young, Richard E.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Planetary-scale circulations in the presence of climatological and wave-induced heating

Interaction between the large-scale circulation and the convective pattern is investigated in a coupled system governed by the linearized primitive equations. Convection is represented in terms of two components of heating: A 'climatological component' is prescribed stochastically to represent convection that is maintained by fixed distributions of land and sea and sea surface temperature (SST). An 'induced component' is defined in terms of the column-integrated moisture flux convergence to represent convection that is produced through feedback with the circulation. Each component describes the envelope organizing mesoscale convective activity. As SST on the equator is increased, induced heating amplifies in the gravest zonal wavenumbers at eastward frequencies, where positive feedback offsets dissipation. Under barotropic stratification, a critical SST of 29.5 C results in positive feedback exactly cancelling dissipation in wavenumber 1 for an eastward phase speed of 6 m/s. Sympathetic interaction between the circulation and the induced heating is the basis for 'frictional wave-Conditional Instability of the Second Kind (CISK)', which is distinguished from classical wave-CISK by rendering the gravest zonal dimensions most unstable. Under baroclinic stratification, the coupled system exhibits similar behavior. The critical SST is only 26.5 C for conditions representative of equinox, but in excess of 30 C for conditions representative of solstice. Having the form of an unsteady Walker circulation, the disturbance produced by frictional wave-CISK compares favorably with the observed life cycle of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). SST above the critical value produces an amplifying disturbance in which enhanced convection coincides with upper-tropospheric westerlies and is positively correlated with temperature and surface convergence. Conversely, SST below the critical value produces a decaying disturbance in which enhanced convection coincides with upper-tropospheric easterlies and is nearly in quadrature with temperature and surface convergence. While sharing essential features with the MJO in the Eastern Hemisphere, frictional wave-CISK does not explain observed behavior in the Western Hemisphere, where the convective signal is largely absent. Comprised of Kelvin structure with the same frequency, observed behavior in the Western Hemisphere can be understood as a propagating response that is excited in and radiates away from the fluctuation of convection in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Salby, Murry L↗
NASA NTRS2002

An Experimental Investigation of Incompressible Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability

Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability occurs when two different density fluids are impulsively accelerated in the direction normal to their nearly planar interface. The instability causes small perturbations on the interface to grow and eventually become a turbulent flow. It is closely related to Rayleigh-Taylor instability, which is the instability of a planar interface undergoing constant acceleration, such as caused by the suspension of a heavy fluid over a lighter one in the earth's gravitational field. Like the well-known Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, RM instability is a fundamental hydrodynamic instability which exhibits many of the nonlinear complexities that transform simple initial conditions into a complex turbulent flow. Furthermore, the simplicity of RM instability (in that it requires very few defining parameters), and the fact that it can be generated in a closed container, makes it an excellent test bed to study nonlinear stability theory as well as turbulent transport in a heterogeneous system. However, the fact that RM instability involves fluids of unequal densities which experience negligible gravitational force, except during the impulsive acceleration, requires RM instability experiments to be carried out under conditions of microgravity. This experimental study investigates the instability of an interface between incompressible, miscible liquids with an initial sinusoidal perturbation. The impulsive acceleration is generated by bouncing a rectangular tank containing two different density liquids off a retractable vertical spring. The initial perturbation is produced prior to release by oscillating the tank in the horizontal direction to produce a standing wave. The instability evolves in microgravity as the tank travels up and then down the vertical rails of a drop tower until hitting a shock absorber at the bottom. Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) is employed to visualize the flow. PLIF images are captured by a video camera that travels with the tank. Figure 1 is as sequence of images showing the development of the instability from the initial sinusoidal disturbance far into the nonlinear regime which is characterized by the appearance of mushroom structures resulting from the coalescence of baroclinic vorticity produced by the impulsive acceleration. At later times in this sequence the vortex cores are observed to become unstable showing the beginnings of the transition to turbulence in this flow. The amplitude of the growing disturbance after the impulsive acceleration is measured and found to agree well with theoretical predictions. The effects of Reynolds number (based on circulation) on the development of the vortices and the transition to turbulence are also determined.

Jacobs, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Eddy heat fluxes and stability of planetary waves. I, II

The stability of baroclinic Rossby waves in a zonal shear flow was analyzed by a linear, quasigeostrophic, two-level, adiabatic, and frictionless midlatitude beta-plane model. The ratio of the basic wave scale and the radius of deformation together with two nondimensional parameters which describe the amplitudes of the barotropic and baroclinic components of the basic wave constitute the three parameters of the stability problem. The parameter space is partitioned according to the dominant energy source for instability; the Lorenz and Kim conditions are characterized by significant horizontal and vertical shears of the basic wave, while the Phillips regime has a strong zonal flow. The stability analysis is then applied to the atmosphere, with the primary motivation being to examine the midlatitude planetary scale (zonal wavenumbers 1, 2, 3) transient waves that transport heat. It is found that the most unstable mode consists of a spectrum of waves, with a maximum amplitude at wavenumber 3; the response is thus maximum at a zonal scale intermediate between the basic wave scale and the radius of deformation.

Lin, C. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The dynamics of large-scale cyclogenesis over the North Pacific Ocean

Wintertime cases of persistent cyclonic flow abnormalities over the North Pacific were studied with the aim of identifying the primary mechanisms for persistent anomaly development. Processes influencing the time evolution of eddy potential enstrophy and potential vorticity anomalies were examined using intensive diagnostic analyses. Analysis indicates that the primary source region for large-scale development is located over the mid-Pacific jet exit region. Potential enstrophy analysis shows that eddy enstrophy increases result from local conversions between the large-scale eddy and the climatological-mean flow. The occurrence of a form of baroclinic 'self development' during large-scale intensification is suggested by potential vorticity inversions. Baroclinic and barotropic processes contribute positively to the large-scale developments. Results indicate that the primary mechanism for the developments is a large-scale instability of the three-dimensional time-mean flow, and suggest that nonmodel transient growth plays a significant role during development.

Black, Robert X.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Extratropical Weather Systems on Mars: Radiatively-Active Water Ice Effects

Extratropical, large-scale weather disturbances, namely transient, synoptic-period,baroclinic barotropic eddies - or - low- (high-) pressure cyclones (anticyclones), are components fundamental to global circulation patterns for rapidly rotating, differentially heated, shallow atmospheres such as Earth and Mars. Such "wave-like" disturbances that arise via (geophysical) fluid shear instability develop, mature and decay, and travel west-to-east in the middle and high latitudes within terrestrial-like planetary atmospheres. These disturbances serve as critical agents in the transport of heat and momentum between low and high latitudes of the planet. Moreover, they transport trace species within the atmosphere (e.g., water vapor/ice, other aerosols (dust), chemical species, etc). Between early autumn through early spring, middle and high latitudes on Mars exhibit strong equator-to-pole mean temperature contrasts (i.e., "baroclinicity"). Data collected during the Viking era and observations from both the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) indicate that such strong baroclinicity supports vigorous, large-scale eastward traveling weather systems [Banfield et al., 2004; Barnes et al., 1993]. A good example of traveling weather systems, frontal wave activity and sequestered dust activity from MGS/MOC image analyses is provided in Figure 1 (cf. Wang et al. [2005]). Utilizing an upgraded and evolving version of the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Mars global climate model, investigated here are key dynamical and physical aspects of simulated northern hemisphere (NH) large-scale extratropica lweather systems,with and without radiatively-active water ice clouds. Mars Climate Model:

cyclones↗
NASA NTRS1995

The mesoscale forcing of a midlatitude upper-tropospheric jet streak by a simulated convective system. 1: Mass circulation and ageostrophic processes

The mutual forcing of a midlatitude upper-tropospheric jet streak by organized mesoscale adiabatic and diabatic processes within a simulated convective system (SCS) is investigated. Using isentropic diagnostics, results from a three-dimensional numerical simulation of an SCS are examined to study the isallobaric flow field, modes of dominant ageostrophic motion, and stability changes in relation to the mutual interdependence of adiabatic processes and latent heat release. Isentropic analysis affords an explicit isolation of a component of isallobaric flow associated with diabatic processes within the SCS. Prior to convective development within the simulations, atmospheric destabilization occurs through adiabatic ageostrophic mass adjustment and low-level convergence in association with the preexisting synoptic-scale upper-tropospheric jet streak. The SCS develops in a baroclinic zone and quickly initiates a vigorous mass circulation. By the mature stage, a pronounced vertical couplet of low-level convergence and upper-level mass divergence is established, linked by intense midtropospoheric diabatic heating. Significant divergence persists aloft for several hours subsequent to SCS decay. The dominant role of ageostrophic motion within which the low-level mass convergence develops is the adiabatic isallobaric component, while the mass divergence aloft develops principally through the diabatic isallobaric component. Both compnents are intrinsically linked to the convectively forced vertical mass transport. The inertial diabatic ageostrophic component is largest near the level of maximum heating and is responsible for the development of inertial instability to the north of SCS, resulting in this quadrant being preferred for outflow. The inertial advective component, the dominant term that produces the new downstream wind maximum, rapidly develops north of the SCS and through mutual adjustment creates the baroclinic support for the new jet streak.

Wolf, Bart J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Life cycles of persistent anomalies. II - The development of persistent negative height anomalies over the North Pacific Ocean

Consideration is given to the potential sources for the development of cases defined by strong and persistent negative height anomalies over the central North Pacific. The analyses of Dole (1986) are extended by providing a more complete synoptic description of the developments and additional diagnostic analysis to identify dynamical mechanisms responsible for the developments. The synoptic characteristics of the developments are reviewed and the barotropic and baroclinic processes of the developments are analyzed. The reproducibility and representativeness of the results are examined. The observed characteristics suggest that the large-scale flow anomalies develop as a result of an instability of three-dimensional wintertime mean flow.

Dole, Randall M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Effect of chemical heat release in a temporally evolving mixing layer

Two-dimensional numerical simulations of a temporally evolving mixing layer with an exothermic infinitely fast diffusion flame between two unmixed reactants have been carried out in the limit of zero Mach number to study the effect of the heat release on the early stages of the evolution of the flow. Attention has been directed to relatively large values of the oxidizer-to-fuel mass stoichiometric ratio typical of hydrocarbon flames, and initial vorticity distributions thicker than the temperature and species distributions have been chosen to mimic the situation at the outlet of a jet. The results show that, during the stages of the evolution covered by the present simulations, enhancement of combustion occurs by local stretching of the flame without much augmentation of its area. The rate of product generation depends strongly on the initial conditions, which suggests the possibility of controlling the combustion by acting on the flow. Rollup and vortex amalgamation still occur in these reacting flows but are very much affected by the production of new vorticity by baroclinic torques. These torques lead to counter rotating vortex pairs around the flame and, more importantly, in thin layers of light fluid that leave the vicinity of the flame when the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability begins to develop. Propelled by the vortex pairs, these layers wind around, split on reaching high pressure regions, and originate new vortex pairs in a process that ends up building large-scale vortices with a vorticity distribution more complex than for a constant density fluid.

Higuera, F. J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Extratropical Large-Scale Traveling Weather Systems in the Southern Hemisphere on Mars

From late-autumn through early-spring, the middle- and high-latitudes of both hemispheres of Mars and its predominantly carbon-dioxide atmosphere support mean equator-to-pole thermal contrasts, and then, support a strong mean westerly polar vortex. Observations from orbiting spacecraft indicate that this intense mean baroclinicity-barotropicity supports large-scale eastward traveling weather systems (i.e., transient, traveling synoptic-period waves, on the order of the Rossby deformation scale). On Earth, extratropical weather disturbances arise from wind-shear instabilities, and these are critical components of the terrestrial global circulation. So it is the case for Mars. Large-scale traveling weather systems on Mars serve as agents in the transport of heat, momentum and scalar and tracer quantities (e.g., atmospheric dust, watervapor, ice clouds, chemical species, etc). Such weather systems interact with other large-scale atmospheric circulation components, namely, quasi-stationary (i.e., forced Rossby) modes; global thermal tidal modes; and then, upon large-/continental- geographical scales, upslope/ down-slope flows amongst high relief, low relief, impact basins, and volcanic rises, and more. The character of Mars' traveling extratropical weather disturbances in its southern hemisphere during late winter through early spring is investigated using a high-resolution Mars global climate model (i.e., Mars GCM), and one from the Agency's Mars Climate Modeling Center (MCMC) based at the NASA Ames Research Center. The climate model includes several complex atmospheric physical packages. With such physics modules, our global climate simulations present comparatively well with observations of the planet's current water cycle (Haberle et al.,2019). The climate model is "forced" with an annual dust cycle (i.e., nudged based on MGS/TES observations). Compared to the northern-hemisphere counterparts, the southern synoptic-period weather disturbances and accompanying frontal waves have smaller meridional and zonal scales, and are less intense. Influences of the zonally asymmetric (i.e., east-west varying) topography on southern large-scale weather are investigated, in addition to large-scale up-slope/down-slope flows and the diurnal cycle. A southern storm zone in late winter and early spring presents in the western hemisphere via orographic influences from the Tharsis highlands, and the Argyre and Hellas impact basins. Geographically localized transient-wave activity diagnostics are constructed that illuminate dynamical differences amongst the simulations and these are presented.

Hollingsworth, Jeffery L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Alternative experiments using the geophysical fluid flow cell

This study addresses the possibility of doing large scale dynamics experiments using the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell. In particular, cases where the forcing generates a statically stable stratification almost everywhere in the spherical shell are evaluated. This situation is typical of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans. By calculating the strongest meridional circulation expected in the spacelab experiments, and testing its stability using quasi-geostrophic stability theory, it is shown that strongly nonlinear baroclinic waves on a zonally symmetric modified thermal wind will not occur. The Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell does not have a deep enough fluid layer to permit useful studies of large scale planetary wave processes arising from instability. It is argued, however, that by introducing suitable meridional barriers, a significant contribution to the understanding of the oceanic thermocline problem could be made.

Hart, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The role of latent heat release in baroclinic waves - Without beta-effect

An attempt is made to understand the role of latent heat release in the development of baroclinic waves by developing the analytical theory of two-level, quasi-geostrophic baroclinic waves proposed by Phillips (1954) without beta effect, for the case of an atmosphere initially saturated with water vapor and subject to pseudo-adiabatic lifting and dry adiabatic subsistence. The saturated atmosphere condition precludes consideration of conditional convective instability. A consideration of disturbances at each level which depends only on the zonal coordinates and time results in a set of differential equations which is linear in all respects except for the latent heating term in the thermodynamic energy equation. A fundamental nonlinearity is present in this model which is due to heating via the release of latent heat when vertical motion is upward.

Tang, C.-M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Laboratory and theoretical models of planetary-scale instabilities and waves

Research work is proceeding in theoretical, numerical, and experimental geophysical fluid dynamics leading up to a reflight of the GFFC (Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell Experiment) on USML-2. The work is intended not only to generate ideas for future space experiments, but to provide fundamental results concerned with nonlinear and chaotic properties of thermal convection and baroclinic waves in terrestrial and planetary atmospheres. The major efforts are focussed on thermal convection in a rapidly rotating annulus relevant to Jovian atmospheric dynamics, and on the chaotic behavior of baroclinic waves relevant to the Earth's atmosphere. The approach, in preparation for USML-2, is primarily theoretical and numerical. Mechanistic process models are solved numerically in order to identify physical mechanisms that may be observed in the GFFC, and which are important in real geophysical applications. The results from numerical simulations of geophysical fluid flow (subject to rotation and stratification) are compared with previous GFFC experiments on Spacelab-3 and with existing and proposed terrestrial laboratory experiments of various types. Pattern recognition algorithms have been employed to generate low-dimensional descriptions of the highly nonlinear and turbulent numerical simulations. Such empirically truncated descriptions provide for simplified but robust physical interpretations of the dynamics, as well as yielding highly efficient computations of these chaotic flows.

Hart, John E.↗