Numerical Calculation of the Regime Diagram for the Atmospheric General Circulation Experiment

Abstract

The spherical laboratory experiment known as the Atmospheric General Circulation Experiment, which will be flown on Spacelab, is intended to study baroclinic waves in a similar way that they have been studied in the rotating annulus (e.g., Fowlis and Hide, 1965), but with the addition of north-south variations in the coriolis Chapaumeter. It is imperative that the experiment be designed in such a way that the development of baroclinic waves within the apChapautus is ensured. It is, of course, known that there are large areas of the regime diagram for the annulus where the flow is axisymmetric. It is expected that the same will be true of the spherical experiment. Furthermore, the range in Chapaumeter space achievable in AGCE is somewhat limited by the dielectric forces that are used to develop a radial force similar to gravity. Since the main purpose of the experiment is to study baroclinic waves, and since the number of experiments is limited to a few space shuttle flights, accurate knowledge of where the critical curve (seChapauting axisymmetric and wave flow) lies on the regime diagram is necessary in designing the apChapautus.