Point vortex dynamics in three-dimensional ageostrophic balanced flows

TL;DR

This paper develops three-dimensional point vortex solutions within a balanced dynamics framework that includes ageostrophic effects, revealing vertical transport phenomena absent in traditional quasigeostrophic models.

Contribution

It introduces 3D point vortex solutions in $QG^{+1}$ dynamics, extending vortex modeling beyond quasigeostrophy to include ageostrophic effects and vertical transport.

Findings

3D point vortices exhibit significant vertical transport.

Ageostrophic effects introduce features not seen in quasigeostrophic vortices.

Models incorporating ageostrophic dynamics better capture physical processes in geophysical flows.

Abstract

Geophysical turbulent flows, characterized by rapid rotation, quantified by small Rossby number, and stable stratification, often self-organize into a collection of coherent vortices, referred to as a vortex gas. The lowest order asymptotic expansion in Rossby number is quasigeostrophy which has purely horizontal velocities and cyclone-anticylone antisymmetry. Ageostrophic effects are important components of many geophysical flows and, as such, these phenomena are not well-modeled by quasigeostrophy. The next order correction in Rossby number, which includes ageostrohpic affects, is so-called balanced dynamics. Balanced dynamics includes ageostrophic vertical velocity and breaks the geostrophic cyclone-anticylone antisymmetry. Point vortex solutions are well known in 2d and quasigeostrophic dynamics and are useful for studying the vortex gas regime of geophysical turbulence. Here we find point vortex solutions in fully three dimensional continuously stratified $QG^{+1}$ dynamics, a particular formulation of balanced dynamics. Simulations of $QG^{+1}$ point vortices show several interesting features not captured by quasigeostrophic point vortices including significant vertical transport on long timescales. The ageostrophic component of $QG^{+1}$ point vortex dynamics renders them useful in modeling flows where quasigeostrophy filters out important physical processes.