A series of numerical experiments on the two-dimensional decaying turbulence is performed for a non-divergent barotropic fluid on a rotating sphere by using a high-resolution (up to T682) spectral model.
Time variations of the energy spectrum and the flow field are highly dependent on the rotation rate. In non-rotational cases, isolated coherent vortices emerge in the course of time development as in the planar two-dimensional turbulence. As the rotation rate increases, however, the evolution of the flow field changes drastically, and a westward circumpolar vortex appears in high-latitudes as well as zonal band structures in mid- and low-latitudes. Dependence of these features on the initial energy spectrum is investigated and the dynamics of such pattern formations is discussed.
Some result of test run with shallow-water model will be also presented.
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12th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics