Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Editors' preface
- Keynote address to the 1977 Symposium SIR JAMES LIGHTHILL
- Part I The large-scale climatology of the tropical atmosphere
- Part II The summer monsoon over the Indian subcontinent and East Africa
- Part III The physics and dynamics of the Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon
- 29 Observations of the Somali Current and its relationship to the monsoon winds
- 30 Structure of currents and hydrographic conditions in the western equatorial Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon
- 31 Recent observations in the equatorial Indian Ocean
- 32 Sea temperature variations in the northeastern Arabian Sea in relation to the southwest monsoon
- 33 Heat budget of the north Indian oceanic surface during MONSOON-77
- 34 The energy budget at selected stations over the north Indian Ocean during MONSOON-77
- 35 Observations of coastal-water upwelling around India
- 36 A numerical study of surface cooling processes during summer in the Arabian Sea
- 37 Maximum simplification of nonlinear Somali Current dynamics
- 38 Laboratory modelling of the oceanic response to monsoonal winds
- Part IV Some important mathematical modelling techniques
- Part V Storm surges and flood forecasting
- Index
38 - Laboratory modelling of the oceanic response to monsoonal winds
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Editors' preface
- Keynote address to the 1977 Symposium SIR JAMES LIGHTHILL
- Part I The large-scale climatology of the tropical atmosphere
- Part II The summer monsoon over the Indian subcontinent and East Africa
- Part III The physics and dynamics of the Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon
- 29 Observations of the Somali Current and its relationship to the monsoon winds
- 30 Structure of currents and hydrographic conditions in the western equatorial Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon
- 31 Recent observations in the equatorial Indian Ocean
- 32 Sea temperature variations in the northeastern Arabian Sea in relation to the southwest monsoon
- 33 Heat budget of the north Indian oceanic surface during MONSOON-77
- 34 The energy budget at selected stations over the north Indian Ocean during MONSOON-77
- 35 Observations of coastal-water upwelling around India
- 36 A numerical study of surface cooling processes during summer in the Arabian Sea
- 37 Maximum simplification of nonlinear Somali Current dynamics
- 38 Laboratory modelling of the oceanic response to monsoonal winds
- Part IV Some important mathematical modelling techniques
- Part V Storm surges and flood forecasting
- Index
Summary
In a laboratory model ocean, fluid in a rotating tank of varying depth is subjected to various stress patterns which simulate both steady and seasonally varying winds, including monsoonal winds. For a certain range of the governing parameters (Rossby number, Ekman number and Froude number), a homogeneous fluid displays steady westward intensified flow. For the same range of parameters a two-layer fluid can have baroclinic instabilities. The parameter range for these instabilities is mapped in a regime diagram. The northward transport of the western boundary current is measured as it varies with the curl of the imposed wind stress, and is compared with the corresponding values in a homogeneous fluid. The condition for surfacing of the lower layer is measured as it varies with Rossby number and Froude number.
Introduction
A laboratory model of the wind-driven ocean circulation is described in which various wind stress patterns are simulated which drive fluid in a tank of varying depth. Both homogeneous and two-layer fluids were used. The following three experiments are described:
(i) measurement of northward transport in the western boundary current as it varies with the magnitude of the wind stress;
(ii) conditions for surfacing of the lower layer and separation of the western boundary current from the boundary;
(iii) periodic forcing of a two-layer model.
The first of these was motivated by the observation that the oceans effect a major portion of the transport of heat from Equator to pole.
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- Information
- Monsoon Dynamics , pp. 557 - 576Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1981