Atmospheric
waves may develop in layers of strong vertical wind shear. Like ocean waves,
these too amplify and break generating smaller scale waves and eddies that
become unstable (wave breaking).
Through this progression of instabilities, kinetic energy may be extracted from
the large-scale wind field, giving rise to a variety of small-scale motions
that extend down the molecular scale—a process that inspired Richardson’s rhyme and resembles that
of an energy cascade.
Energy cascades
transfer energy from large (or small) scales of motion to the small (or large)
scales. As indicated by the “drop in the bucket,” kinetic energy in the
reservoir is transferred to smaller and smaller scales until it becomes indistinguishable
from random molecular motions, becoming incorporated into the atmosphere’s
reservoir of internal energy.
