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Monday, August 15, 2011
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
CNLS Conference Room (TA-3, Bldg 1690)

Seminar

Feedback of zonal flows on Rossby/drift-wave turbulence driven by small scale instability

Colm Connaughton
Warwick Mathematics Institute and Warwick Centre for Complexity Science

We demonstrate theoretically and numerically the zonal-flow/wave turbulence feedback mechanism in Charney-Hasegama-Mima turbulence forced by a small scale instability. Zonal flows are generated by a secondary modulational instability of the waves which are directly driven by the primary instability. The shear generated by the zonal flows then suppresses the small scale turbulence thereby arresting the energy injection into the system. This process can be described using nonlocal wave turbulence theory. Finally, the arrest of the energy input results in saturation of the zonal flows at a level which can be estimated from the theory and the system reaches stationarity even without large scale damping. (Joint work with S. Nazarenko and B. Quinn)

Host: Balu Nadiga, CCS-2, balu@beasley.lanl.gov