Abstract

We perform numerical simulations of decaying rotating stratified turbulence and show, in the Boussinesq framework, that helicity (velocity-vorticity correlation), as observed in supercell storms and hurricanes, is spontaneously created due to an interplay between buoyancy and rotation common to l... Show moreWe perform numerical simulations of decaying rotating stratified turbulence and show, in the Boussinesq framework, that helicity (velocity-vorticity correlation), as observed in supercell storms and hurricanes, is spontaneously created due to an interplay between buoyancy and rotation common to large-scale atmospheric and oceanic flows. Helicity emerges from the joint action of eddies and of inertia-gravity waves (with inertia and gravity with respective associated frequencies f and N), and it occurs when the waves are sufficiently strong. For N/f<3 the amount of helicity produced is correctly predicted by a quasilinear balance equation. Outside this regime, and up to the highest Reynolds number obtained in this study, namely Re⋲10 000, helicity production is found to be persistent for N/f as large as ⋲17, and for ReFr² and ReRo², respectively, as large as ⋲100 and ⋲24 000. Show less