Marine Science Faculty Publications
Nonlinear Waves in Zonostrophic Turbulence
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2008
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.178501
Abstract
The Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation applies to a broad variety of hydrodynamic systems ranging from the large-scale planetary circulations to small-scale processes in magnetically confined plasma. This equation harbors flow regimes that have not yet been fully understood. One of those is the recently discovered regime of zonostrophic turbulence emerging in the case of small-scale forced, barotropic two-dimensional turbulence on the surface of a rotating sphere or in its β-plane approximation. The commingling of strong nonlinearity, strong anisotropy and Rossby waves underlying this regime is highlighted by the emergence of stable systems of alternating zonal jets and a new class of nonlinear waves, or zonons. This Letter elucidates the physics of the zonons and their relation to the large-scale coherent structures.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Physical Review Letters, v. 101, issue 17, art. 178501
Scholar Commons Citation
Sukoriansky, Semion; Dikovskaya, Nadejda; and Galperin, Boris, "Nonlinear Waves in Zonostrophic Turbulence" (2008). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 1507.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1507
