Fluid Dynamics and GFD
Stationary Rossby waves forced by a flow over ridge in a rotating tank. This laboratory demonstration was conducted in the David Fultz Memorial Lab run by Noboru Nakamura.
Mixing and transport within geophysical flows are important elements of climate and its variability. Mathematical theory, numerical simulations, and observed data are brought together to arrive at a fundamental and quantitative understanding of atmospheric and oceanic transport. The picture here shows a numerical tracer advected by stratospheric winds (at an altitude of about 30 km), demonstrating a rich spatial structure in the atmospheric mixing.
While our fluid dynamics program stresses a rigorous theoretical development based on applied math, we also use more empirical, lab-based approach. Here the water in the rotating tank with ice in the bucket represents the Earth's atmosphere around the cold pole. The fluid motion is captured by dye released in the water and the video camera mounted on the ceiling.
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Idealized life-cycle of unstable baroclinic waves. Horizontal plots of surface potential temperature. |
The University of Chicago has a long and rich tradition of inquiry into the workings of fluid flows in Earth's oceans and atmosphere. In recent years, this tradition has extended to the study of continuum mechanics of solids (e.g., mantle convection and glaciology) and the mechanics of granular materials (particularly through partnerships with the Physics Department).
Over the decades, emphasis in fluid dynamic research in our department has evolved from theoretical and experimental work (e.g., Joe Pedlosky and David Fultz, not to mention the current experimental work of Noboru Nakamura), to computational emphasis on the understanding of, for example, tracer transport in the stratosphere.
Faculty engaged in fluid dynamics and GFD research include:
