Analytic Detection of Coherent Fluid Dynamical Structures in Meteorological data

CFD Simulations of large scale meteorology are increasingly important in understanding weather phenomena, but the scale of the simulations often makes manual interpretation difficult.  Recently, it has become possible to analyse simulation indirectly through topological analysis of the simulation data, as for example by detecting toroidal structures representing vortex rings (see image).  This project will apply, develop and extend topological tools to analyse a variety of flow phenomena arising from meteorological simulations, in order to support insight into the meteorological processes.

Among the effective techniques for feature detection are analyses of scalar-valued functions in the simulation, of derived scalar functions such as the q-criterion, of pairs of scalar functions, or of vector-valued functions. Moreover, topological analyses also tend to depend on geometric properties, so the project will involve detailed analysis of topological, geometric and integrable properties of the output functions.

The primary outcomes will be the classification of atmospheric turbulent structures in a range of different large-scale conditions. The work will be linked to an ongoing programme to develop the next generation of convective parametrisation scheme for the Met Office, ParaCon. The methods developed will have wide potential application in other areas of fluid dynamics outside meteorology.