A Theoretical Solution to the Motion of an Atmospheric Spherical Vortex

Abstract

Several atmospheric phenomena have been studied in the past in which buoyant fluid convects upward as a compact ?blob? of cloudy or smoky air. In such volumes there is a strong updraft in the middle of the blob, and slower rising, or descending air around the outside. Such blobs of cooler diluted air are an important candidate dynamical entity for diluting cumulus and stratus clouds with dry air entrained from above; they have been identified in observations of marine stratus clouds. In the past they have been studied in water tank experiments but no adequate theoretical description has been available. This paper presents a theoretical analysis that will allow formulation of the dynamical equations so they can be developed for use in nonself-similar conditions. The rising vortex, in the theoretical model for the self-similar buoyant blob, spreads at the same angle as observed in previous studies with water tank experiments.