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gfdl's home page > gfdl on-line bibliography > 2004: Physics of Fluids, 16(1), 73-78
The effects of quadratic drag on the inverse cascade of two-dimensional turbulence
| Grianik, N., I. M. Held, K. S. Smith, and G. K. Vallis, 2004: The effects of quadratic drag on the inverse cascade of two-dimensional turbulence. Physics of Fluids, 16(1), 73-78. |
| Abstract: We explore the effects of a quadratic drag, similar to that used in bulk aerodynamic formulas, on the inverse cascade of homogeneous two-dimensional turbulence. If a two-dimensional fluid is forced at a relatively small scale, then an inverse cascade of energy will be generated that may then be arrested by such a drag at large scales. Both scaling arguments and numerical experiments support the idea that in a statistically steady state the length scale of energy-containing eddies will not then depend on the energy input to the system; rather, the only external parameter that defines this scale is the quadratic drag coefficient itself. A universal form of the spectrum is suggested, and numerical experiments are in good agreement. Further, the turbulent transfer of a passive tracer in the presence of a uniform gradient is well predicted by scaling arguments based solely on the energy cascade rate and the nonlinear drag coefficient. |