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Stratification-Dependent Enstrophy-Controlled Regime in Geostrophic Turbulence

Shan-Shan Ding1,*, Hadrien Bobas2, Hélène Scolan3, Roland M. B. Young4, and Peter L. Read1,†

  • *Contact author: shanshan.ding@physics.ox.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: peter.read@physics.ox.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 114101 – Published 20 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/n2nj-dg5r

Abstract

We experimentally measure geostrophic turbulence in a rotating, differentially heated fluid annulus, which is bounded by convectively driven warm and cold flows at the outer and inner boundaries, respectively. The horizontal kinetic energy spectra exhibit a range at low wave number which scales as k−3, where k denotes the horizontal wave number, with spectral amplitude that correlates with the square of the Brunt-Väisälä frequency at the same heights as the velocity measurements. The observed turbulent state exhibits a forward enstrophy cascade across all scales along with bidirectional energy transfer, which is evidenced by a reversal in the sign of the spectral energy flux at a scale proportional to the internal Rossby radius of deformation. These findings highlight the role of baroclinic instability in shaping the distribution of energy across scales, with implications for synoptic-scale turbulent flows near Earth’s tropopause.

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A Lab Version of Planetary Atmospheres

Published 20 March, 2026

Researchers recreate key features of atmospheric turbulence in a meter-sized rotating cylinder.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 114101– Published 20 March, 2026
  • Received 19 November 2025
  • Accepted 10 February 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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