Laboratory tank

From Glossary of Meteorology



laboratory tank

A device for physical simulation of the atmosphere, using water or other liquids as the working fluid.

Classical examples are 1) rotating tanks colloquially called dishpans, to simulate long waves in the general circulation; 2) turbulence tanks to simulate boundary layer evolution and convective thermals; and 3) towing tanks to simulate pollutant dispersion associated with mean flow about an obstacle. Because of tank size limitations and the characteristics of water compared to air, not all atmospheric flows can be simulated, and care must be taken to scale or nondimensionalize the results to make them independent of the working fluid.
Compare large eddy simulation models, direct numerical simulation.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.