Abstract
Sixteen meridian-plane temperature profiles were obtained in the upper symmetric regime of a differentially heated rotating annulus of water by means of a thermocouple probe. This probe, though made as small as practicable, disturbed the flow field, and the nature of the disturbance and its correction is discussed. Correlations relating the wall thermal Rossby number to a thermal Rossby number and vertical stability number measured in the interior of the fluid away from the wall boundary layers are given. The spatial variation of these parameters is discussed. The wall boundary layers are also investigated in detail, and they appear to be similar to those observed on a vertical heated plate with some modifications due to rotation. Some preliminary information concerning the thermal fields in the lower symmetric regime is also given. Based on a theoretical discussion by McIntyre (1968) and the above measurements, a heuristic picture of the thermal fields in the upper symmetric regime is constructed.