Large-scale Vortices in Rapidly Rotating Rayleigh-Bénard Convection at Small Prandtl number

Abstract

One prominent feature in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn is the appearance of large-scale vortices. However, the sustaining mechanism of these large-scale vortices remains unclear. One possible mechanism is that these large-scale vortices are driven by rotating convection. Here we present numerical simulation results on rapidly rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection at a small Prandtl number $Pr=0.1$ (close to the turbulent Prandtl numbers of Jupiter and Saturn). We have identified four flow regimes in our simulation: multiple small vortices, coexisted large-scale cyclone and anticyclone, large-scale cyclone, and turbulence. The formation of large-scale vortices requires two conditions to be satisfied: the vertical Reynolds number is large ($Re_{z}\ge 400$), and the Rossby number is small ($Ro\leq 0.4$). Large-scale cyclone first appears when $Ro$ decreases to be smaller than 0.4. When $Ro$ further decreases to be smaller than 0.1, coexisted large-scale anticyclone emerges. We have studied the heat transfer in rapidly rotating convection. The result reveals that the heat transfer is more efficient in the anticyclonic region than in the cyclonic region. Besides, we find that 2D effect increases and 3D effect decreases in transporting convective flux as rotation rate increases. We find that aspect ratio has an effect on the critical Rossby number for the emergence of large-scale vortices. Our results provide helpful insights on understanding the dynamics of large-scale vortices in gas giants.