A Heuristic Framework for Next-Generation Models of Geostrophic Convective Turbulence

Abstract

Many geophysical and astrophysical phenomena are driven by turbulent fluid dynamics, containing behaviors separated by tens of orders of magnitude in scale. While direct simulations have made large strides toward understanding geophysical systems, such models still inhabit modest ranges of the governing parameters that are difficult to extrapolate to planetary settings. The canonical problem of rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection provides an alternate approach - isolating the fundamental physics in a reduced setting. Theoretical studies and asymptotically-reduced simulations in rotating convection have unveiled a variety of flow behaviors likely relevant to natural systems, but still inaccessible to direct simulation. In lieu of this, several new large-scale rotating convection devices have been designed to characterize such behaviors. It is essential to predict how this potential influx of new data will mesh with existing results. Surprisingly, a coherent framework of predictions for extreme rotating convection has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we combine asymptotic predictions, laboratory and numerical results, and experimental constraints to build a heuristic framework for cross-comparison between a broad range of rotating convection studies. We categorize the diverse field of existing predictions in the context of asymptotic flow regimes. We then consider the physical constraints that determine the points of intersection between flow behavior predictions and experimental accessibility. Applying this framework to several upcoming devices demonstrates that laboratory studies may soon be able to characterize geophysically-relevant flow regimes. These new data may transform our understanding of geophysical and astrophysical turbulence, and the conceptual framework developed herein should provide the theoretical infrastructure needed for meaningful discussion of these results.

36 pages, 8 figures. CHANGES: in revision at Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics

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Cited by in corpus (19)

• Ocean dynamics of outer solar system satellites
• Boundary Zonal Flow in Rotating Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
• Turbulent rotating convection confined in a slender cylinder: the sidewall circulation
• Ocean Circulation on Enceladus With a High Versus Low Salinity Ocean
• Laboratory Exploration of Heat Transfer Regimes in Rapidly Rotating Turbulent Convection
• Latitudinal regionalization of rotating spherical shell convection
• Frictional boundary layer effect on vortex condensation in rotating turbulent convection
• Oscillatory thermal-inertial flows in liquid metal rotating convection
• Experimental observation of the geostrophic turbulence regime of rapidly rotating convection
• Heat transport scaling and transition in geostrophic rotating convection with varying aspect ratio
• Dynamic flows create potentially habitable conditions in Antarctic subglacial lakes
• Velocimetry in rapidly rotating convection: spatial correlations, flow structures and length scales
• Reynolds number scaling and energy spectra in geostrophic convection
• Tornado-Like Vortices in the Quasi-Cyclostrophic Regime of Coriolis-Centrifugal Convection
• Bridging the Rossby number gap in rapidly rotating thermal convection
• Optimal heat transport in rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection at large Rayleigh numbers
• Seven decades of exploring planetary interiors with rotating convection experiments
• Turbulent convection in rotating slender cells
• Physical Mechanism behind the Early Onset of the Ultimate State in Supergravitational Centrifugal Thermal Convection