Some remarks on coherent structures out of chaos in planetary atmospheres and oceans

In the context of planetary atmospheres and oceans, it is natural to define ‘‘coherent structures’’ as ‘‘long‐lived,’’ or ‘‘solitary,’’ Rossby vortices. These can be described by the generalized Charney–Obukhov equation (in fluid dynamics) or the analogous generalized Hasegawa–Mima equation (in plas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.) N.Y.), 1994-06, Vol.4 (2), p.109-111
Main Author: Nezlin, Mikhail V.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In the context of planetary atmospheres and oceans, it is natural to define ‘‘coherent structures’’ as ‘‘long‐lived,’’ or ‘‘solitary,’’ Rossby vortices. These can be described by the generalized Charney–Obukhov equation (in fluid dynamics) or the analogous generalized Hasegawa–Mima equation (in plasma physics). These two equations contain KdV‐type nonlinearities which (together with the compensating dispersive spreading) determine the formation of the coherent structures and explain the clear‐cut cyclonic/anticyclonic asymmetry observed experimentally in long‐lived planetary Rossby vortices. Examples are given of natural vortices which are (and which are not) coherent structures.
ISSN:1054-1500
1089-7682
DOI:10.1063/1.165997