Energetics of a symmetric circulation including momentum constraints

Codoban, S. and Shepherd, T. G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6631-9968 (2003) Energetics of a symmetric circulation including momentum constraints. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 60 (16). pp. 2019-2028. ISSN 1520-0469 doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(2003)060<2019:EOASCI>2.0.CO;2

Abstract/Summary

A theory of available potential energy (APE) for symmetric circulations, which includes momentum constraints, is presented. The theory is a generalization of the classical theory of APE, which includes only thermal constraints on the circulation. Physically, centrifugal potential energy is included along with gravitational potential energy. The generalization relies on the Hamiltonian structure of the conservative dynamics, although (as with classical APE) it still defines the energetics in a nonconservative framework. It follows that the theory is exact at finite amplitude, has a local form, and can be applied to a variety of fluid models. It is applied here to the f -plane Boussinesq equations. It is shown that, by including momentum constraints, the APE of a symmetrically stable flow is zero, while the energetics of a mechanically driven symmetric circulation properly reflect its causality.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/32114
Identification Number/DOI	10.1175/1520-0469(2003)060<2019:EOASCI>2.0.CO;2
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	American Meteorological Society
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