Costanza Rodda

Gravity wave emission from jet systems in the differentially heated rotating annulus experiment Costanza Rodda

Internal gravity waves are fully recognised for the relevant role they play in the atmos-pheric and oceanic dynamics of our planet. Over the past decades, several studies have successfully investigated generation, propagation, and dissipation of gravity waves. Although several phenomena are nowadays reasonably well explained, others still remain unclear and, therefore, an active research topic. One of the least understood aspects is the emission of gravity waves from jet and front systems in the atmosphere. This work proposes an experimental laboratory investigation of gravity waves generated from baroclinic jets and fronts using a differentially heated rotating annulus. Gravity waves are observed along the baroclinic jet and their properties, together with the con-ditions for their emission and propagation, are examined in detail. Finally, the energy partition among large- and small-scale wave phenomena is investigated. The resem-blance of the energy spectra obtained from the experimental data with the ones meas-ured in the atmosphere is noteworthy, therefore proving that this experimental configu-ration is well suited for the investigation of multi-scale dynamics.