The intermediate Rossby number range and two-dimensional-three-dimensional transfers in rotating decaying homogeneous turbulence

Rotating homogeneous turbulence in a finite domain is studied using numerical simulations, with a particular emphasis on the interactions between the wave and zero-frequency modes. Numerical simulations of decaying homogeneous turbulence subject to a wide range of background rotation rates are presented. The effect of rotation is examined in two finite periodic domains in order to test the effect of the size of the computational domain on the results obtained, thereby testing the accurate sampling of near-resonant interactions. We observe a non-monotonic tendency when Rossby number Ro is varied from large values to the small-Ro limit, which is robust to the change of domain size. Three rotation regimes are identified and discussed: the large-, the intermediate-, and the small-Ro regimes. The intermediate-Ro regime is characterized by a positive transfer of energy from wave modes to vortices. The three-dimensional to two-dimensional transfer reaches an initial maximum for Ro approximate to 0.2 and it is associated with a maximum skewness of vertical vorticity in favour of positive vortices. This maximum is also reached at Ro approximate to 0.2. In the intermediate range an overall reduction of vertical energy transfer is observed. Additional characteristic horizontal and vertical scales of this particular rotation regime are presented and discussed.