NPG Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics NPG Nonlin. Processes Geophys. 1607-7946 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/npg-3-231-1996 Geophysical turbulence data and turbulence theory van Atta C. W. 1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA 31 12 1996 3 4 231 235 Copyright: © 1996 C. W. van Atta 1996 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ This article is available from https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/3/231/1996/npg-3-231-1996.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/3/231/1996/npg-3-231-1996.pdf

Many vital insights into the nature of turbulence in fluids have originated from experimental data obtained in geophysical flows. Geophysical data have often helped to stimulate the creation of new turbulence theory, while theory has in many cases motivated the experimental efforts. The present brief review discusses several key examples of this interaction between experiment and theory, citing mainly work which is of particular interest to the author. No attempt is made to provide a complete listing of the extensive and currently rapidly developing literature for some of the problems discussed.