AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

Modeling large vortex action at small scales

Vortex action, frequently observed in the atmosphere and oceans, can exist at several spatial scales in a single system, ranging from synoptic-scale to small-scale. To understand how these scales of vortex action interact, Luo and Liu (2006) modeled a system of four coexisting scales—a subtropical high ridge, a major vortex, as well as mesoscale and small-scale vortices—with the goal of determining how small-scale interactions affect the behavior of major systems. Noting that the microenvironment of a major vortex consists of a group of small-scale vortices, the authors discovered that varying initial number of these small-scale systems causes three kinds of major vortex motion: The initial major vortex decays away with no new major vortex formation, a weak new major vortex forms during the initial major vortex decay, or a new major vortex forms via self-organization. In the latter case, the intensity and scale correspond to the preexisting vortex.

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