Flow transitions resembling bifurcations of the logistic map in simulations of the baroclinic rotating annulus

We present evidence for a sequence of bifurcations in simulations of the differentially heated baroclinic rotating annulus, similar to bifurcations of the logistic map. The Met. Office / Oxford Rotating Annulus Laboratory Simulation (MORALS) code is used to construct a detailed numerical regime diagram for the annulus, and the distribution of regimes in parameter space is discussed. The bifurcations are observed in a sequence of runs at high temperature forcing, identified by Poincaré sections of the dominant temperature mode amplitude time series. Higher order return maps and predictions using quadratic fits to the data are used to verify this result, and Lyapunov exponents are calculated to identify and quantify the chaotic parts of the sequence.