Inertial Particle Dynamics and Coherent Structures in Geophysical Fluid Flows*

Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS) provide a skeleton for the underlying structures in geophysical flows. We consider two types of geophysical flows with Coriolis force included and numerically investigate the dynamics of inertial particles. In particular, we use finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE) to characterize the attracting and repelling LCS and show how inertial particles aggregate with respect to LCS for a range of Stokes numbers and density ratios. Using the Maxey-Riley equation we examine the inertial FTLE by tracking inertial particle trajectories. Lastly, we discuss the connection between these theoretical/numerical results and experimental results.