Direct Numerical Simulation of structural vacillation in the transition to geostrophic turbulence

Abstract

The onset of small-scale fluctuations around a steady convection pattern in a rotating baroclinic annulus filled with air is investigated using Direct Numerical Simulation. In previous laboratory experiments of baroclinic waves, such fluctuations have been associated with a flow regime termed Structural Vacillation which is regarded as the first step in the transition to fully-developed geostrophic turbulence.