{"id":2501,"date":"2011-12-17T00:05:46","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T00:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planets.ucla.edu\/?p=2501"},"modified":"2021-01-18T01:39:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T09:39:49","slug":"spinlab-geoscience-educational-film-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/planets.ucla.edu\/?p=2501","title":{"rendered":"SPINLab Fluid Dynamics Educational Film Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jonathan Aurnou<\/a> & John Cantwell<\/a><\/h4>\n

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Cinematographer Jon Schwarz behind the scenes of the UCLA SPINLab Educational Film Project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spend a day at the ocean or just stop to watch the clouds: there\u2019s ample evidence that the fluid systems around you\u2014the oceans and the atmosphere\u2014are in constant motion. These enormous systems are not only moving and constantly changing, but they\u2019re also capable of undergoing dramatic fluctuations\u2014like hurricanes\u2014that can have profound consequences in our world.<\/p>\n

In addition, we also know that human lifestyle is having an impact on the oceans and the atmosphere. From extensive fishing to massive production of carbon dioxide, we are causing significant changes to these systems.<\/p>\n

Because we depend on the atmosphere and the oceans\u2014and because we\u2019re becoming increasingly aware of our impact upon them\u2014it\u2019s important to understand how these systems function. At UCLA, we teach a course called \u201cBlue Planet: An introduction to Oceanography.\u201d One of the topics discussed in this course is the large scale fluid dynamics occurring in the oceans and atmosphere. We can create simplified laboratory models of these fluid motions. With funding from UCLA and the National Science Foundation, we devised several small-scale lab experiments and have created a 30 minute film<\/a> to demonstrate basic fluid motions similar to those occurring in atmospheres and oceans.<\/p>\n

In these small-scale experiments, we use water to simulate the fluid dynamics of both the liquid (oceans) and gaseous (atmospheric) envelopes. To simulate the spinning of the earth, we carry out our experiments on a rotating table we have in our lab at UCLA. When we talk about rotating systems\u2014like the earth and most other bodies in the universe\u2014we talk about the Coriolis acceleration. This refers to the way rotation causes a deflection of any moving body, a solid or a liquid, observed within the rotating frame. For each experiment, we begin by looking at our system first without the effects of rotation. Then, we include rotation to see how the behavior of the fluid changes due to the Coriolis accelerations. What you\u2019ll see at the end of this series of experiments is how a planet\u2019s rotation fundamentally influences the large-scale fluid motions of its oceans and atmosphere.<\/p>\n

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Simulating Jupiter\u2019s \u201cRed Spot\u201d with mechanically forced vortices in a rapidly rotating tank of water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First, we will look at the Coriolis effect with a solid (Chapter 1<\/a>)\u2014in this case, a ball bearing. Then, we will explore analogs to large-scale atmospheric motions, the atmospheric circulation and the associated wind-belts (Chapter 2<\/a>, Chapter 3<\/a>, Chapter 4<\/a>). Using our model of the wind-belts, we will carry out experiments to understand why large patches of floating garbage are forming near the centers of earth\u2019s ocean basins (Chapter 5<\/a>). Then, we will carry out experiments with packets of creamer that demonstrate how rapidly rotating fluids behave somewhat like a fluid gyroscope (Chapter 6<\/a>). Finally, we will carry out experiments to show how swirling motions, called vortices, differ in non-rotating (Chapter 7<\/a>) and strongly rotating systems (Chapter 8<\/a>). These last experiments will help us understand the kinds of images we\u2019re now seeing from telescopes and space missions, showing planetary atmospheres in motion.<\/p>\n

Our hope is that by viewing these experiments you will develop a sense for how fluids behave both in rotating and non-rotating systems. By noting the differences between the experiments, it should be possible to establish a basis to think about large-scale fluid motions that exist in Earth\u2019s oceans and atmospheres as well as on planets other than Earth.<\/p>\n

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Videos:<\/h3>\n

The following videos were filmed in the SPINLab<\/a> in UCLA’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences. To download movies right click on the download link and select “Save link as”.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Full version<\/h4>\n

“The Full Monty” (30 min.):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contains the entire compiled set of experiments, including in-depth explanations of our results and how they relate to geophysical observations.<\/p>\n

Download (.mp4, 216 MB)<\/a>
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