We consider a model of quasigeostrophic turbulence that has proven useful in theoretical studies of large scale heat transport and coherent structure formation in planetary atmospheres and oceans. The model consists of a coupled pair of hyperbolic PDE’s with a forcing which represents domain-scale thermal energy source. Although the use to which the model is typically put involves gathering information from very long numerical integrations, little of a rigorous nature is known about long-time properties of solutions to the equations. In the first part of my dissertation we define a notion of weak solution, and show using Galerkin methods the long-time existence and uniqueness of such solutions. In the second part we prove that the unique weak solution found in the first part produces, via the inverse Fourier transform, a classical solution for the system. Moreover, we prove that this solution is analytic in space and positive time.

Quasi-geostrophic (QG) analysis of the atmosphere utilizes predefined isobaric surfaces to ascertain vertical motion. One equation of the QG system is the omega equation that states that vertical forcing results from differential vorticity advection and thickness advection. Two problems arise when using the QG omega equation: the forcing terms are not independent and must be analyzed simultaneously, and vertical forcing is visually noisy. Both issues are resolved using a smoothing and quantification technique that applies the QG omega equation. The analysis fields from a selection of events were chosen from the North American Mesoscale model. Using a finite differencing methodology dependent on the wavelength of synoptic features, values of vertical forcing were calculated using the omega equation. The calculated omega field correlated well with model omega while also quantifying and visualizing large perturbations in vertical forcing. The method allows for quick diagnosis of forcing type and strength within the atmosphere.

The dynamics of the world's oceans occur at a vast range of length scales. Although there are theories that aid in understanding the dynamics at planetary scales and microscales, the motions in between are still not yet well understood. This work discusses a numerical model to study barotropic wind-driven gyre flow that is capable of resolving dynamics at the synoptic, O(1000 km), mesoscale, O(100 km) and submesoscales O(10 km). The Quasi-Geostrophic (QG) model has been used predominantly to study ocean circulations but it is limited as it can only describe motions at synoptic scales and mesoscales. The Rotating Shallow Water (SW) model that can describe dynamics at a wider range of horizontal length scales and can better describe motions at the submesoscales. Numerical methods that are capable of high-resolution simulations are discussed for both QG and SW models and the numerical results are compared. To achieve high accuracy and resolve an optimal range of length scales, spectral methods are applied to solve the governing equations and a third-order Adams-Bashforth method is used for the temporal discretization. Several simulations of both models are computed by varying the strength of dissipation. The simulations either tend to a laminar steady state, or a turbulent flow with dynamics occurring at a wide range of length and time scales. The laminar results show similar behaviours in both models, thus QG and SW tend to agree when describing slow, large-scale flows. The turbulent simulations begin to differ as QG breaks down when faster and smaller scale motions occur. Essential differences in the underlying assumptions between the QG and SW models are highlighted using the results from the numerical simulations.

The dynamics of the world's oceans occur at a vast range of length scales. Although there are theories that aid in understanding the dynamics at planetary scales and microscales, the motions in between are still not yet well understood. This work discusses a numerical model to study barotropic wind-driven gyre flow that is capable of resolving dynamics at the synoptic, O(1000 km), mesoscale, O(100 km) and submesoscales O(10 km). The Quasi-Geostrophic (QG) model has been used predominantly to study ocean circulations but it is limited as it can only describe motions at synoptic scales and mesoscales. The Rotating Shallow Water (SW) model that can describe dynamics at a wider range of horizontal length scales and can better describe motions at the submesoscales. Numerical methods that are capable of high-resolution simulations are discussed for both QG and SW models and the numerical results are compared. To achieve high accuracy and resolve an optimal range of length scales, spectral methods are applied to solve the governing equations and a third-order Adams-Bashforth method is used for the temporal discretization. Several simulations of both models are computed by varying the strength of dissipation. The simulations either tend to a laminar steady state, or a turbulent flow with dynamics occurring at a wide range of length and time scales. The laminar results show similar behaviours in both models, thus QG and SW tend to agree when describing slow, large-scale flows. The turbulent simulations begin to differ as QG breaks down when faster and smaller scale motions occur. Essential differences in the underlying assumptions between the QG and SW models are highlighted using the results from the numerical simulations.

L'objet de cette thèse est l'étude de la régularité des solutions d'énergie infinie d'une équation de transport non locale. Plus précisément, nous nous sommes intéressés à deux équations de transport dont la vitesse est donnée par un opérateur non local. La première équation est l'équation dissipative surface quasi-géostrophique (SQG) et la seconde est un modèle 1D qui peut être vu comme la version 1D de l'équation quasi-géostrophique non écrite sous forme divergence. Une autre motivation du modèle 1D est le lien qu'a cette équation avec l'équation de Birkoff-Rott modélisant l'évolution d'une poche de tourbillon. Ces deux équations ont été introduites par Constantin, Majda et Tabak pour (SQG) et par Constantin, Lax, Majda pour le modèle 1D dans le but de mieux comprendre l'étude de la régularité des solutions de l'équation d'Euler tridimensionnelle écrite en terme de la vorticité. Dans une première partie, nous nous sommes attachés à étudier l'équation quasi géostrophique (SQG) lorsque la donnée initiale est dans l'espace de Morrey-Campanato non homogène $L^{2}_{uloc}(mathbb{R}^2)$. Le manque de décroissance à l'infini du noyau de convolution de l'opérateur de Riesz ne permet pas de considérer le cas d'une donnée intiale $L^{2}_{uloc}(mathbb{R}^2)$. Cependant, en donnant plus de décroissance au noyau de l'opérateur de Riesz, ou de façon équivalente, en donnant plus d'oscillations à la donnée initiale nous rendons possible l'étude de l'équation dans des espaces de Morrey-Camapanato. Nous montrons alors un théorème d'existence globale dans le cas d'oscillations suffisamment grandes et local dans le cas de petites oscillations. Dans une seconde partie, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'étude de l'équation de transport 1D dont la vitesse est non locale. Contrairement à l'équation (SQG), l'approche Morrey-Campanato pour l'équation 1D ne marche pas aussi bien. Le caractère non locale de cette équation associé au fait qu'elle ne soit pas écrite sous forme divergence introduit de grandes difficultés. Cependant, l'étude dans les espaces à poids est possible et nous obtenons un résultat d'existence globale à condition de prendre un poids appartenant à la classe A_2 de Muckenhoupt. Enfin, nous terminons en montrant que la condition de positivité de la donnée initiale n'est pas nécessaire si l'on désire uniquement avoir un contrôle globale de solutions faibles dont l'énergie ne décroit pas. Comme cela a été remarqué dans l'article de Cordoba, Cordoba et Fontelos, la décroissance de l'énergie n'est valable que sous l'hypothèse de positivité de la donnée initiale. Ceci rejoint un résultat établi récemment par Hongjie Dong / In this thesis, we adress the study of weak infinite energy solutions for the critical dissipative quasi geostrophic (SQG) equation. We also study a 1D transport equation with non local velocity. More precisely, we consider the (SQG) equation equation with data in Morrey-Camapanto type spaces and the other equation in a weighted Lebesgue spaces. Both spaces generate infinite energy solutions. Regarding the 1D equation with non local velocity, the existence of weak Morrey solutions is not easy to obtain, this is due to the fact that the non linearity is not written in a divergence form. Nevertheless, we are able to adress the study this 1D equation in a weigted Lebesgue space and this also provides infinite energy solutions. In a first part, we show that for any initial data lying in a Morrey-Campanato space for large enough oscillations, we have global existence of weak solutions. The proof is based on the study of the truncated equation (on a ball of radius $R>0$ centered at the origin) associated with a truncated et regularized initial data (by making a convolution with a standard mollifer). We obtain emph{a priori} estimates that give rise to an energy inequality. Then, we treat the case of small oscillations, namely $0<s<1/4$. More precisely, we show that for all initial data lying in $Lambda^{s} (dot H^{s}_{uloc} (mathbb{R}^{2}))cap L^infty(mathbb{R}^{2})$ we have local existence of solutions.In a second part, we study a 1D model equation driven by a non local velocity. This equation have been considered by Cordoba, Cordoba and Fontelos in a paper where the authors show that for all positive initial data in $H^{2} (mathbb{R}^{2})$ we have global existence of weak solutions. We first make some remarks regarding the positivity condition of the initial data by showing that this condition is not necessary for keeping the global control but we actually lost the $L^2$ maximum principle and the $L^{2}$ decay at inifinity. In the second part of the chapter, we show a global existence result of weak solutions for all positive initial data belonging to the weighted Lebesgue spaces $L^{2}(w)$ where $w$ is a weight of the $mathcal{A}_{2}$ class of Muckenhoupt. The method we used may easily be extend to other active scalar equations such as the surface quasi geostrophic equation

This thesis examines the structure, stability and interaction of geophysical vortices. We do so by restricting our attention to relative vortex equilibria, or states which appear stationary in a co-rotating frame of reference. We approach the problem from three different perspectives, namely by first studying the single-vortex, quasi-geostrophic shallow-water problem, next by generalising it to an (asymmetric) two-vortex problem, and finally by re-visiting the single-vortex problem, making use of the more realistic, although more complicated, shallow-water model. We find that in all of the systems studied, small vortices (compared to the Rossby deformation length) are more likely to be unstable than large ones. For the single-vortex problem, this means that large vortices can sustain much greater deformations before destabilising than small vortices, and for the two-vortex problem this means that vortices are able to come closer together before destabilising. Additionally, we find that for large vortices, the degree of asymmetry of a vortex pair does not affect its stability, although it does affect the underlying steady state into which an unstable state transitions. Lastly, by carefully defining the "equivalence" between cyclones and anticyclones which appear in the shallow-water system, we find that cyclones are more stable than anticyclones. This is contrary to what is generally reported in the literature.

The quasi-geostrophic equations (QGE) are a model of large-scale ocean flows. We consider a pure stream function formulation and cite results for optimal error estimates for finding approximate solutions with the finite element method. We examine both the time dependent and steady-state versions of the equations. Numerical experiments verify the error estimates. We examine the Argyris finite element and derive the transformation matrix necessary to perform calculations on the reference triangle. We use the Argyris element because it is a high-order, conforming finite element for fourth order problems. In order to increase computational efficiency, we consider a two-level method to linearize the system of equations. This allows us to solve a small, nonlinear system and then use the result to linearize a larger system. / Master of Science

The quasi-geostrophic equations (QGE) are usually discretized in space by the finite difference method. The finite element (FE) method, however, offers several advantages over the finite difference method, such as the easy treatment of complex boundaries and a natural treatment of boundary conditions [Myers1995]. Despite these advantages, there are relatively few papers that consider the FE method applied to the QGE. Most FE discretizations of the QGE have been developed for the streamfunction-vorticity formulation. The reason is simple: The streamfunction-vorticity formulation yields a second order \\emph{partial differential equation (PDE)}, whereas the streamfunction formulation yields a fourth order PDE. Thus, although the streamfunction-vorticity formulation has two variables ($q$ and $\\psi$) and the streamfunction formulation has just one ($\\psi$), the former is the preferred formulation used in practical computations, since its conforming FE discretization requires low-order ($C^0$) elements, whereas the latter requires a high-order ($C^1$) FE discretization. We present a conforming FE discretization of the QGE based on the Argyris element and we present a two-level FE discretization of the Stationary QGE (SQGE) based on the same conforming FE discretization using the Argyris element. We also, for the first time, develop optimal error estimates for the FE discretization QGE. Numerical tests for the FE discretization and the two-level FE discretization of the QGE are presented and theoretical error estimates are verified. By benchmarking the numerical results against those in the published literature, we conclude that our FE discretization is accurate. �Furthermore, the numerical results have the same convergence rates as those predicted by the theoretical error estimates. / Ph. D.

In this study we investigate the interactions between two co-rotating vortices. These vortices are subject to rapid rotation and stable stratification such as are found in planetary atmospheres and oceans. By conducting a large number of simulations of vortex interactions, we intend to provide an overview of the interactions that could occur in geophysical turbulence. We consider a wide parameter space covering the vortices height-to-width aspect-ratios, their volume ratios and the vertical offset between them. The vortices are initially separated in the horizontal so that they reside at an estimated margin of stability. The vortices are then allowed to evolve for a period of approximately 20 vortex revolutions. We find that the most commonly observed interaction under the quasi-geostrophic (QG) regime is partial-merger, where only part of the smaller vortex is incorporated into the larger, stronger vortex. On the other hand, a large number of filamentary and small scale structures are generated during the interaction. We find that, despite the proliferation of small-scale structures, the self-induced vortex energy exhibits a mean `inverse-cascade' to larger scale structures. Interestingly we observe a range of intermediate-scale structures that are preferentially sheared out during the interactions, leaving two vortex populations, one of large-scale vortices and one of small-scale vortices. We take a subset of the parameter space used for the QG study and perform simulations using a non-hydrostatic model. This system, free of the layer-wise two-dimensional constraints and geostrophic balance of the QG model, allows for the generation of inertia-gravity waves and ageostrophic advection. The study of the interactions between two co-rotating, non-hydrostatic vortices is performed over four different Rossby numbers, two positive and two negative, allowing for the comparison of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic interactions. It is found that a greater amount of wave-like activity is generated during the interactions in anticyclonic situations. We also see distinct qualitative differences between the interactions for cyclonic and anti-cyclonic regimes.

Accurate forecasts of weather and climate will become increasingly important as the world adapts to anthropogenic climatic change. Forecasts' accuracy is limited by the computer power available to forecast centres, which determines the maximum resolution, ensemble size and complexity of atmospheric models. Furthermore, faster supercomputers are increasingly energy-hungry and unaffordable to run. In this thesis, a new means of making computer simulations more efficient is presented that could lead to more accurate forecasts without increasing computational costs. This 'scale-selective reduced precision' technique builds on previous work that shows that weather models can be run with almost all real numbers represented in 32 bit precision or lower without any impact on forecast accuracy, challenging the paradigm that 64 bits of numerical precision are necessary for sufficiently accurate computations. The observational and model errors inherent in weather and climate simulations, combined with the sensitive dependence on initial conditions of the atmosphere and atmospheric models, renders such high precision unnecessary, especially at small scales. The 'scale-selective' technique introduced here therefore represents smaller, less influential scales of motion with less precision. Experiments are described in which reduced precision is emulated on conventional hardware and applied to three models of increasing complexity. In a three-scale extension of the Lorenz '96 toy model, it is demonstrated that high resolution scale-dependent precision forecasts are more accurate than low resolution high-precision forecasts of a similar computational cost. A spectral model based on the Surface Quasi-Geostrophic Equations is used to determine a power law describing how low precision can be safely reduced as a function of spatial scale; and experiments using four historical test-cases in an open-source version of the real-world Integrated Forecasting System demonstrate that a similar power law holds for the spectral part of this model. It is concluded that the scale-selective approach could be beneficially employed to optimally balance forecast cost and accuracy if utilised on real reduced precision hardware.