Applied Mathematics Professor Tiffany Shaw Named Packard Fellow

The figure above is of the weather-in-a-tank apparatus, which Tiffany Shaw (pictured at right) uses to demonstrate atmospheric phenomena such as fronts, convection, the general circulation of the atmosphere, flow over a barrier and the flow in a hurricane. In the experiment illustrated here, Shaw has combined the two main ingredients that control the general circulation of the atmosphere, namely Earth's rotation and differential heating (warm equator, cold pole). The ice-water bath at the center mimics Earth's 'pole' and the water outside is at room temperature with the outermost region mimicking the warm 'equator.' The tank is slowly rotating creating a laboratory analog of the circulation in the tropical atmosphere. The purple dye shows the movement of water at the bottom of the tank in a southwest direction toward the 'equator,' which is consistent with the earth's trade winds. The green dye illustrates the movement of water in the interior, which forms an annular pattern. The dots on the surface show the movement of surface water, which rotates in a counter-clockwise direction and moves faster toward the pole. Tiffany Shaw, assistant professor of applied mathematics, has been awarded a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, a prestigious honor given to a group of the most promising and innovative researchers who are at the beginning stages of their careers.