PHYSICAL MATHEMATICS SEMINAR

TITLE:		DYNAMICS OF MONOPOLAR VORTICES 
		ON A TOPOGRAPHIC BETA PLANE


SPEAKER:	JAN-BERT FLOR
		Laboratoires des Ecoulements Geophysiques 
		et Industriels France



ABSTRACT:

In geophysical flows, vortices such as hurricanes, tropical cyclones in the atmosphere 
or meso-scale eddies in the ocean are known to translate over large distances due to 
the variation of the planetary Coriolis force.  While there has been a great deal of progress
in interpreting and modeling the dynamics of monopolar vortices on the beta plane,
issues such as which parameters control their direction of translation, speed and characteristic
structure are still not fully understood.  The aim of this paper is to resolve some of these 
issues through a systematic experimental study over a wide range of parameters and to 
compare these results with a mechanistic model, based on potential flow theory.  (Most 
results of this presentation are published in Flor & Eames, 2002, J. Fluid Mech. 456, p. 353-376).


TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2002
2:30 PM
Building 2, Room 338

Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in Room 2-349


Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Mathematics
Cambridge, MA  02139