Recent laboratory experiments with rotating stratified water in a cylinder
have revealed many of the predictions of linearized, analytic theory. Earli
er measurements of the velocity field generated in a cylinder by top heatin
g compared well with theory. Large stratification clearly suppressed Ekman
pumping so that the interior velocity field (primarily azimuthal) responded
by satisfying no-slip top and bottom boundary conditions without the need
for Ekman layers. This interior flow also occupied a boundary layer of grea
ter thickness than the Ekman layer under some conditions. Theory and experi
ments have now been conducted for sidewall heating. As before, experiment a
nd theory agree well over some parameter ranges. But for some parameters, t
he flow is unstable. The exact nature of the instability remains poorly und
erstood. The size of one combination of both vertical and horizontal bounda
ry layers is governed by the Rossby radius of deformation multiplied by the
square root of the Prandtl number. Sidewall boundary layers and their scal
es will be reviewed with the present results in mind. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci
ence B.V. All rights reserved.