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Shallow rotating flow over an isolated obstacle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

V. R. Lamb
Affiliation:
Department of Marine. Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208
G. S. Janowitz
Affiliation:
Department of Marine. Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208

Abstract

The deflection of flow around an isolated obstacle in a rotating homogeneous fluid is investigated. Criteria for the onset of closed streamlines over an isolated obstacle are reviewed. In the flow regime where no closed streamlines exist, steady solutions for the stream function are obtained for both quasigeostrophic and finite-Rossby-number flows. A measure is proposed to allow quantitative evaluation of the flow patterns, and the dependence of deflection on obstacle volume and aspect ratio is examined. In the regime where closed streamlines can exist, the presence of a trapped vortex to the right (looking downstream) of the obstacle is investigated by means of time integration of the shallow-water equations. The significance of the trapped vortex for a real fluid is then tested through the addition of the frictional effect of Eckman pumping.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1985 Cambridge University Press

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