Abstract
Processes related to the production of vorticity in the forward and rear flank downdrafts and their interaction with the boundary layer are thought to play a role in tornadogenesis. We argue that an inverse energy cascade is a plausible mechanism for tornadogenesis and tornado maintenance and provides supporting evidence which is both numerical and observational. We apply a three-dimensional vortex gas model to supercritical vortices produced at the surface boundary layer possibly due to interactions of vortices brought to the surface by the rear flank downdraft and also to those related to the forward flank downdraft. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional vortex gas models are discussed, and the three-dimensional vortex gas model of Chorin, developed further by Flandoli and Gubinelli, is proposed as a model for intense small-scale subvortices found in tornadoes and in recent numerical studies by Orf et al. In this paper, the smaller scales are represented by intense, supercritical vortices, which transfer energy to the larger-scale tornadic flows (inverse energy cascade). We address the formation of these vortices as a result of the interaction of the flow with the surface and a boundary layer.
Highlights
We apply a three-dimensional vortex gas model to supercritical vortices produced at the surface boundary layer possibly due to interactions of vortices brought to the surface by the rear flank downdraft and to those related to the forward flank downdraft
Two-dimensional and three-dimensional vortex gas models are discussed, and the three-dimensional vortex gas model of Chorin, developed further by Flandoli and Gubinelli, is proposed as a model for intense small-scale subvortices found in tornadoes and in recent numerical studies by Orf et al In this paper, the smaller scales are represented by intense, supercritical vortices, which transfer energy to the larger-scale tornadic flows
The three-dimensional vortex gas model of Chorin [4] [5] [6], developed further by Flandoli and Gubinelli [7], can be applied to model the behavior of intense three-dimensional vortices anchored at the surface, and it can contribute to the understanding of the processes of tornadogenesis and maintenance
Summary
In classical statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, one attempts to explain the macroscopic behavior of gases by using the statistics of modeled microscopic. The main idea in this paper is the inverse energy cascade supported by vortex gas models, whereby the energy from small-scale, intense vortices is transferred to the large-scale tornadic flow This process would support tornadogenesis and tornado maintenance. We argue that the small-scale, intense vortices in tornadic flows have negative temperature, presumably higher than that of the ambient vortex; they transfer energy to the surrounding flow and at the same time increase their own entropy. In this process, these intense vortices fold and kink up tightly, and dissipate.
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