Bénard Convection and Effects of Rotation

Abstract

A plane layer of fluid uniformly heated from below and subject to rotation is considered as a severely idealized model of small-scale convection which can drive large-scale mean motions. The three-dimensional, time-dependent flow is simulated by numerical solution of the Boussinesq equations, including all Coriolis terms. At high latitudes, rotation reduces the horizontal scale of the convective elements and decreases the vertical heat flux. In the tropics, rotation elongates the cells and produces opposite mean flows near the surface and aloft, together with equatorward fluxes of heat and angular momentum. The simulations are illustrated by a computer-produced movie.