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Rectilinear propagation of quasi-monopolar vorticity patches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2020

Timour Radko Open the ORCID record for Timour Radko [Opens in a new window]
Timour Radko*
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA93943, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: tradko@nps.edu
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Abstract

This study presents a class of steadily translating two-dimensional approximately circular vortices. The proposed solutions take the form of a superposition of two nearly concentric vorticity patches with zero net vorticity. Exact quasi-monopolar solutions of this type are found for propagation speeds that are much less than typical azimuthal velocities. While all V-states obtained are shown to be formally unstable, a large subset of configurations is characterized by very low growth rates. Fully nonlinear simulations reveal that such nearly stable eddies can propagate large distances from the point of origin while maintaining their structure and intensity. Therefore, the proposed solutions can serve as models of geophysical vortices that are known to drift relative to the ambient fluid, often exhibiting remarkable longevity and resilience to external perturbations.

JFM classification

Vortex Flows: Vortex Flows
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 904 , 10 December 2020 , A22
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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