Dynamics of Jets and Vortices: Geophysical and Astrophysical Investigations

加拿大北极海冰的融化是我们面临的最大气候问题之一。我们越能准确地预测海冰的变化，我们就越有可能制定出适应这些变化的战略。这包括水位的变化以及对北极水域和生态系统的影响。 为了解决这一气候学问题，拟议的研究方案将研究一些对热量分配至关重要的海洋学特征，以及海洋中的其他流体特性：海洋喷流(洋流)和涡流。喷流的一个主要例子是墨西哥湾流，众所周知，它会产生墨西哥湾流环；这些都是漩涡的例子。 众所周知，模拟海洋喷流和漩涡的动力学是一个非常具有挑战性的数学问题，但我们做得越准确，我们就越能更好地预测气候和天气的变化。这项研究计划将主要集中在准确模拟海洋中这些相干结构的起源、相互作用和死亡。 这项研究计划的另一个方面是研究恒星薄层(即太阳角跃层)中的喷流和涡旋。这一强切变区域产生了大量的湍流，众所周知，它在恒星磁场的产生中起着重要作用。这随后影响了太阳黑子的产生，一些人声称，太阳黑子在我们不断变化的气候中发挥了作用。 拟议的研究计划将研究下列不同但密切相关的问题的动力学：1)大洋喷流，2)大洋涡旋，3)海冰下喷流和涡旋中的浮游生态系统，以及4)太阳跃层中的喷流和涡旋。研究这些系统的动力学及其相互作用将使社会各界更好地了解这些结构如何输送和混合热量，以及如何在大气环流模式中更准确地参数化它们的影响。 这项研究将提高我们准确预测北极水域演变的能力，从而使加拿大受益。这将有助于提高我们模拟气候变化的能力，气候变化在很大程度上取决于海洋的物理和生物方面。该计划的一个长期目标是学习更好地适应北极水域不断变化的气候。 在这个研究组工作的研究生将在两个重要领域培养专业知识：1)使用和开发数值模型来模拟现实世界中的流动，2)理解相干结构的物理以及如何最好地对它们进行建模。这项研究计划将使他们在学术界继续研究，并为政府机构，如加拿大环境局，在不断增长的气候研究领域发挥研究人员的作用。所获得的知识还将使学生在各种职业中占据一席之地，包括计算科学家、数据科学家和软件工程师。

The melting of sea ice in the Canadian Arctic is one of the biggest climatological problems we face. The more accurately we can predict the changes in sea ice, the more likely we will be able to develop a strategy to adapt to these changes. This includes changes in water levels and the impact on the Arctic waters and ecosystem. In order to address this climatological issue, the proposed research program will examine some oceanographic features that are paramount in distributing heat, as well as other fluid properties within the oceans: oceanic jets (currents) and vortices. A primary example of a jet is the Gulf Stream, which is known to produce Gulf Stream rings; these are examples of vortices. Simulating the dynamics of oceanic jets and vortices is known to be a very challenging mathematical problem, but the more accurately we can do this the better we can predict changes in both climate and weather. This research program will focus primarily on accurately simulating the genesis, interactions and death of these coherent structures in the oceans. Another aspect of this research program is to the study of jets and vortices in the thin layer of a star (i.e. the solar tachocline). This region of strong shear generates an abundance of turbulence and is known to play an important role in generating the magnetic field of stars. This subsequently impacts the generation of sun spots which, some have claimed, play a role in our changing climate. The proposed research program will investigate the dynamics of the following distinct but very closely related problems: 1) oceanic jets, 2) oceanic vortices, 3) planktonic ecosystems in jets and vortices below sea ice, and 4) jets and vortices in the solar tachocline. Investigating the dynamics of these systems and their interactions will enable the community to better understand how these structures transport and mix heat, and how we can more accurately parameterize their effects in general circulation models. The research will benefit Canada by improving our ability to accurately predict the evolution of the Arctic waters. This will assist in improving our ability to simulate our changing climate, which depends strongly on both the physical and biological aspects of the oceans. A long term goal of this program is to learn to better adapt to our changing climate in the Arctic waters. Graduate students working in this research group will develop expertise in two important areas: 1) using and developing numerical models to simulate flows in the real world and, 2) understanding the physics of coherent structures and how best to model them. This research program will position them for continued studies in academia, as well as roles as researchers for governmental agencies such as Environment Canada in the growing field of climate studies. The knowledge gained will also position students for a variety of careers including Computational Scientist, Data Scientist and Software Engineer.