Cyclostrophic vortices in polar regions of rotating planets

Abstract. Multi-petal, rotating vortices can form in two-dimensional flows consisting of an inviscid incompressible fluid under certain conditions. Such vortices are principally nonlinear thermo-hydrodynamical structures. The proper rotation of these structures which leads to time-dependent variations of the associated temperature field can be enregistred by a stationary observer. The problem is analyzed in the framework of the contour dynamics method (CDM). An analytical solution of the reduced equation for a contour curvature is found. We give a classification of the solutions and compare the obtained results with observational data.