Coalescence of lenticular anticyclones in a linearly stratified rotating fluid

Abstract

This study is devoted to laboratory experiments on the coalescence of two lenticular anticyclones in a linearly stratified rotating fluid. These anticyclones are generated by injecting small volumes of fluid at the centre of a rotating tank where a linearly stratified layer was previously prepared with salt. The characteristics of the interaction between the vortices are studied by visualisation and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) as a function of the initial separation distance between the vortices, the Coriolis parameter of the rotating table and the Brünt-Väisälä frequency of the density stratification. Our results show that the merging critical distance depends drastically on the Rossby radius of deformation of the vortices and are in complete agreement with previous numerical modelling of vortex coalescence. We have also observed that mergers involve three-dimensional processes as the vortices intertwine together possibly because of the presence of an elliptic instability that tilts the vortex cores. They are also accompanied by the emission of vorticity filaments and internal gravity waves radiation although we cannot prove that in our experiments these waves are solely due to the merging process.