Velocity and potential vorticity fields measured by altimetric imaging velocimetry in the rotating fluid

An optical method of altimetric imaging velocimetry (AIV) for measuring the slope of the surface elevation in the rotating fluid with free surface is described. This method allows one to obtain the major dynamical fields in the fluid layer including velocity, vorticity and surface elevation. When used in combination with the Optical Thickness method the AIV can be used to render the full dynamical characteristics of a two-layer flow. Both methods allow one to achieve very high spatial resolution by rendering a velocity vector in each pixel of the image. An example of the two-layer source-driven flow on a γ-plane (also called polar β-plane) is offered to demonstrate the application of these methods. This “β-plume’ is a gyre-like response to a point source of fluid, including intense jets, eddies and Rossby waves.