Title: Basic of Rotating Flow Boundary Layers
Lecturer: Prof. Richard Rotunno (NCAR)
Inviter: Prof. Zhe-Min Tan
Time: Thursday November 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Venue: 仙 I-106
Abstract: The rotating-flow boundary layer is an essential part of geophysical fluid dynamics in phenomena ranging from synoptic-scale cyclones to dust devils. In this talk I review what I consider to be the basic concepts that I think all meteorologists (and others) should be familiar with. I will illustrate these concepts using results from the literature on laboratory experiments, tropical cyclones and tornadoes.
Reference:
Rotunno, R, 2014: Secondary circulations in rotating-flow boundary layers. Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal 64, 27–35.
Brief introduction to the speaker: Richard Rotunno is a Senior Scientist in the MMM Laboratory at NCAR. He received a Ph. D. in 1976 in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics from Princeton University. Rich's research has ranged over a wide variety of topics in mesoscale dynamical meteorology, through a combination of theory and numerical modeling. Rich is a two-time recipient of the AMS Banner I. Miller Award, also the recipient of the AMS Jule G. Charney Award (2004), Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal (2017) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2018). In 2023, he was elected to the U. S. National Academy of Science.