The structure of zonal jets in shallow water turbulence on the sphere

Abstract

This paper reviews some recent results concerning the formation and structure of zonal jets in forced shallow water turbulence on the surface of a rotating sphere. Attention is given to the role of the Rossby deformation radius in determining the degree to which jets align zonally; to the limiting case of the axisymmetric "potential vorticity staircase"; and to the issue of equatorial superrotation, which is shown to arise robustly when energy is dissipated through a representation of radiative relaxation. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.