Abstract

There are a number of different phenomena that can form in the atmosphere known as collectively as atmospheric vortices. Some of these, such as the hurricane or tornado, are well known, whilst others, like the dust devil or waterspout, are less so. All of these flows display similar structural features; swirling flow about some central axis that converges at the base before rising upwards. Despite this, they all occur across a range of scales and in a variety of climes. This talk will provide an introduction to a number of different atmospheric vortices and explore some of the the fluid mechanical principles behind them.

I will also take a look more specifically at the subject of eyes and eye formation; an interesting topic with a number of different theories. Our simulations support a recent theory for eye formation based on vortex dynamics considerations, and further indicate that the eye may in fact be an unstable structure subject to bifurcation at a high enough governing parameter.