Buoyancy storms in a zonal stream experiments with altimetry

Abstract

This thesis investigates a great storm on Saturn, which was generated by an upwelling source and affected by Saturn's permanent winds. A laboratory model is used to simulate the great storm. -- The model was built on a rotating tank filled with water. In a series of experiments, the turbulent flow generated by localized heating is studied in the presence of a background zonal current. The flow is in the form of a β-plume, which consists of clockwise circulations and usually stretches to the west. However, when a strong eastward background zonal current is induced, the plume can be overwhelmed by the current and transports eastward. The experiments demonstrate that the westward-transport velocity inside the plume is proportional to the strength of the source in agreement with linear theory. By separately changing the strength of heating and the intensity of the sink, a regime diagram is obtained, showing the possible space where a β-plume exist. In this study, the Altimetric Imaging Velocimetry (AIV) method is used for measuring the dynamic flow fields.