Numerical study of the evolution of vortices in a linearly stratified fluid

This paper presents a numerical study in which the evolution of vortices in a stratified fluid is compared to the evolution of two-dimensional vortices. The influence of the Reynolds number and the Froude number are investigated, for the evolution of axisymmetric vortices, for their azimuthal instability and for the subsequent formation of tripoles. It is found that due to radial diffusion axisymmetric vortices with various initial vorticity profiles all evolve towards the same profile. This evolution reduces the growth of azimuthal instabilities which may lead to the formation of a tripole. For vortices in a stratified fluid the effect of the ambient stratification on the evolution of the vortices is investigated. It is found that a process of vortex stretching, which becomes more pronounced for increasing Froude numbers, leads to a weaker tripole formation.