AUTHOR=Moscoso Jordyn E. , Tripoli Rachel E. , Chen Shizhe , Church William J. , Gonzalez Henry , Hill Spencer A. , Khoo Norris , Lonner Taylor L. , Aurnou Jonathan M. TITLE=Low-cost table-top experiments for teaching multi-scale geophysical fluid dynamics JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science VOLUME=10 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1192056 DOI=10.3389/fmars.2023.1192056 ISSN=2296-7745 ABSTRACT=

Multi-scale instabilities are ubiquitous in atmospheric and oceanic flows and are essential topics in teaching geophysical fluid dynamics. Yet these topics are often difficult to teach and counter-intuitive to new learners. In this paper, we introduce our state-of-the-art Do-It Yourself Dynamics (DIYnamics) LEGO® robotics kit that allows users to create table-top models of geophysical flows. Deep ocean convection processes are simulated via three experiments – upright convection, thermal wind flows, and baroclinic instability – in order to demonstrate the robust multi-scale modeling capabilities of our kit. Detailed recipes are provided to allow users to reproduce these experiments. Further, dye-visualization measurements show that the table-top experimental results adequately agree with theory. In sum, our DIYnamics setup provides students and educators with an accessible table-top framework by which to model the multi-scale behaviors, inherent in canonical geophysical flows, such as deep ocean convection.