2/9/12

Easterlies-Westerlies Analog Experiment (Silent)

Laboratory demonstration showing basic process of atmospheric overturn in a rotating channel. Heavier dye sinks at one side of the channel, whereas less dense dye rises at the other end. Instead of uniformly spreading along the top and bottom surfaces, the dye patches are now deflected off to the right of their non-rotating paths by Coriolis accelerations. This demonstration qualitatively explains the latitudinally-oriented flows (e.g., easterly/westerly flows) associated with the atmosphere's overturning Hadley cell. (It is also not too shabby of a fluid mechanical analog to the Hall Effect.)

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Atmospheric Overturn Analog Experiment (Silent)

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