The purpose of this project is to study, using meteorological observations and laboratory experiments, the relation between the wind field and the mass field in a rotating system. In part I we explore the relationship in laboratory experiments; in part II atmospheric observations of intense cyclones and hurricanes are used.
Project Description (PDF)
Tank Experiments
- Detailed description of the radial inflow tank experiment, together with associated theory. (PDF)
- View recordings of the Balanced Vortex Experiment at the Weather in a Tank Web site
- Look at the following experiment on Ekman Layers to visualize the impact of surface friction on the balance of forces.
- Notes on relevant theory: Lecture Notes from Course 12.003 (Physics of Atmospheres and Oceans) - Chapter 6 — The equations of fluid motion (PDF - 1.2 MB)
Atmospheric Data
Hurricane Case Studies
Hurricane Katrina (Aug'05): [NASA-EO](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=15399
), NCDC
Super-typhoon Ioke (Sept'06): [NASA-EO](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6914
)
Hurricane Dean (Aug 07): NCDC, [NASA-EO](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=18889
)
Hurricane Bertha (Jul 08): [NASA-EO](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=20209
)
Surface winds from scatterometer imagery
Choose an hurricane case from the Scatterometer Imagery of Historical Storms and:
1. Plot the surface winds at different times along the path of the hurricane.
2. Choose a specific time and download the wind data to compute the Rossby number in function of radius - See Instructions
3. Discuss how the hurricane data compare to the radial inflow experiment.
Upper Air Analyses and Geostrophic/ageostrophic Flow
Read here for notes on geostrophic balance and on hydrostatic balance. (PDF 1) (PDF 2)
Note
GDPLOT should be used to plot the height and wind from a regional analysis over the US.
Use GDPLOT_surf to plot the surface analyzed wind and pressure.
