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Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science SocietyJournal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Society
A journal for meteorology, climate, oceanography, hydrology and space weather focused on the southern hemisphere
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Secondary circulations in rotating-flow boundary layers

R. Rotunno

Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal 64(1) 27 - 35
Published: 2014

Abstract

The rotating-flow boundary layer is a special case of the more general threedimensional boundary layer in which the pressure gradient imposed by the outer flow (above the boundary layer) is not in the same direction as the outer flow. The rotating-flow boundary layer thus has motion that is transverse to the streamlines of the outer flow, that is, there is a secondary circulation to the primary circulation of the outer flow. That the secondary circulation can extend far above the boundary layer presents a set of perplexing conceptual problems unlike any encountered in a two-dimensional boundary layer. This paper reviews, critically discusses and presents numerical simulations attempting to supplement existing theory for several canonical problems concerning secondary circulations in rotating-flow boundary layers. Based on the present results, brief comments on atmospheric vortices are made.

https://doi.org/10.1071/ES14004

© Commonwealth of Australia represented by the Bureau of Meterology 2014. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).

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