Geophysical and Environmental Fluid Flows
Summary
Fluid motions in the natural environment span an extraordinary range of scales and settings—from the soaring jet streams and planetary waves of the atmosphere to the wind‐driven gyres, boundary currents and internal waves of the ocean, and down to flows through porous media in aquifers and estuaries. Geophysical fluid dynamics explores how Earth’s rotation, buoyancy and stratification combine with wind forcing, solar heating and topographic constraints to organise these flows. In the atmosphere, exchange of sensible and latent heat and momentum at the sea surface drives convection, turbulent boundary layers and cyclone formation, while the ocean responds with large‐scale circulation, thermohaline overturning and diapycnal mixing. Environmental fluid flows extend to riverine and groundwater systems, where pressure gradients and heterogeneity control contaminant transport and ecosystem dynamics. Advances in observational platforms—from autonomous gliders and drifters to satellite remote sensing—and in high‐resolution numerical models have yielded new insight into multiscale interactions, underpinning improved forecasts of extreme weather, assessments of climate variability and the design of sustainable management strategies.
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Geophysical and Environmental Fluid Flows publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in geophysical and environmental fluid flows across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Zonal jets: Predominantly east–west flows organised into alternating bands by planetary rotation and turbulent motions.
Inverse cascade: Nonlinear transfer of kinetic energy from small to large scales, often invoked in two‐dimensional turbulence.
β‐effect: Latitudinal variation of the Coriolis parameter, which introduces anisotropy and favours formation of zonal flows.
Reynolds stresses: Momentum fluxes arising from correlated velocity fluctuations that transfer energy between eddies and mean flow.
Zonostrophic turbulence: A regime of rapidly rotating turbulence characterised by strong anisotropy and spontaneous zonal‐jet formation.
Baroclinic turbulence: Turbulence driven by vertical density gradients and shear in stratified fluids, crucial for mixing and heat transport.
Buoyancy transport: Meridional flux of buoyancy (heat and salt) by turbulent eddies, essential for deep‐ocean stratification and overturning circulation.
References
- Direct driving of simulated planetary jets by upscale energy transfer. Astronomy & Astrophysics (2023).
- Anisotropic turbulence and zonal jets in rotating flows with a β-effect. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics (2006).
- Vertical Structure of Buoyancy Transport by Ocean Baroclinic Turbulence. Geophysical Research Letters (2023).
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