Rotating Hydraulics

The theory of rotating hydraulics is important in the study of certain types of swift oceanic and atmospheric flows. Applications include overflows in deep ocean passages such as the Faroe-Bank Channel, shallow exchange flows through gaps like the Strait of Gibraltar, and atmospheric flows such as in the California amarine layer and jet stream. Despite a 30-year history of development the subject is not covered in standard graduate textbooks on geophysical fluid dynamics. This book covers the development of the theory of rotating hydraulics, turning frequently to supporting laboratory models and observational data. As general interest in climate and global circulation increases, the need to understand rotating hydraulic phenomena is growing. The book includes numerous exercises, making it ideal for graduate students in oceanography and meteorology. In addition, it reviews cutting-edge research, and will interest advanced researchers who seek specialized reference as well as engineering graduate students learning about hydraulics in general.

The first standard reference that thoroughly covers hydraulic phenomena in rotating fluids Includes numerous exercises, making it the ideal textbook for course use in oceanography and meteorology, hydraulic phenomena in geophysical flows

Auteur

Lawrence Pratt is currently a senior scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His main research interests cover the dynamics of meandering currents, especially the Gulf Stream and other separated western boundary currents.

John A. Whitehead is currently a senior scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Texte du rabat

Larry Pratt received his Ph. D. in physical oceanography in the Woods Hole/MIT Joint Program in 1982. He then served as a research associate and assistant research professor at the University of Rhode Island before joining the scientific staff at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he is now a senior scientist. He is editor of The Physical Oceanography of Sea Straits and has authored or co-authored numerous articles on hydraulic effects in the ocean.

J. A. (Jack) Whitehead received his Ph. D. in engineering and applied science from Yale University in 1968. After postdoctoral work and serving as assistant research geophysicist at the Institute of Geophysical and Planetary Physics at UCLA, he joined the scientific staff at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he is now a Senior Scientist. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles on hydraulic effects in the ocean.

Hydraulic effects can occur when high-speed ocean currents and atmospheric winds encounter strong topographic features. This book contains a deep and extensive discussion of geophysical flows that are broad enough to be influenced by Earth?s rotation and strong enough to experience classical hydraulic effects such as critical control and hydraulic jumps. Examples include deep overflows and coastal currents in the ocean and winds in the coastal marine layer. The material is appropriate for students at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level who have some elementary knowledge of fluid mechanics. Reviews of geophysical observations and of the hydraulics of flow with no background rotation are followed by chapters on models of currents in rotating channels, shock waves and time dependence, coastal flow, two-layer stratification, and jets. Although the primary focus is on the theory, a number of case studies, including the Faroe Bank overflow and the California coastal marine layer winds, are presented along with numerous laboratory experiments. Exercises are presented at the end of most sections. The presentation should allow thereader to develop a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of the hydraulics of rotating flows.

Contenu
Review of the Hydraulics of Nonrotating, Homogeneous Flow.- The Hydraulics of Homogeneous Flow in a Rotating Channel.- Time-Dependence and Shocks.- Coastal Applications.- Two-Layer Flows in Rotating Channels.- Potential Vorticity Hydraulics.