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Forecasting long-lived Lagrangian vortices from their objective Eulerian footprints

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2017

Mattia Serra  and
George Haller
Mattia Serra
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
George Haller*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
*
†Email address for correspondence: georgehaller@ethz.ch
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Abstract

We derive a non-dimensional metric to quantify the expected Lagrangian persistence of objectively defined Eulerian vortices in two-dimensional unsteady flows. This persistence metric is the averaged deviation of the vorticity from its spatial mean over the Eulerian vortex, normalized by the instantaneous material leakage from the Eulerian vortex. The metric offers a model- and frame-independent tool for uncovering the instantaneous Eulerian signature of long-lived Lagrangian vortices. Using satellite-derived ocean velocity data, we show that Lagrangian vortex-persistence predictions by our metric significantly outperform those inferred from other customary Eulerian diagnostics, such as the potential vorticity gradient and the Okubo–Weiss criterion.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Geophysical and Geological Flows Nonlinear Dynamical Systems: Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Vortex Flows: Vortex Flows
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 813 , 25 February 2017 , pp. 436 - 457
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Copyright
© 2017 Cambridge University Press 

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