Anisotropy in turbulent rotating convection

A simple model for many geophysical and astrophysical flows, such as oceanic deep convection and the convective outer layer of the Sun, is found in rotating Rayleigh.BeLenard convection: a horizontal fluid layer heated from below and cooled from above is rotated about a vertical axis. Three dimensionless parameters characterise this flow: the Rayleigh number Ra describes the strength of the destabilising temperature gradient, the Prandtl number relates the diffusion coefficients for heat and momentum of the fluid, and the Rossby number Ro is the ratio of buoyancy and Coriolis forces ( \(Ro = \infty \) when rotation is absent and Ro 1 for rotation-dominated flow). We investigate the effect of rotation on the flow anisotropy in turbulent convection in an upright cylinder of equal height and diameter, with experiments and numerical simulations.