This article describes the project and the construction of a rotating table to perform laboratory experiments of geophysical fluid dynamics. These experiments simulate under controlled conditions the dynamics of atmospheric and oceanic processes in which the Earth rotation, via the Coriolis accelerations, plays an important role. The rotating table is part of the Ocean Processes Group, the physical oceanography lab at COPPE/UFRJ. It was built using basic low cost components available at the Brazilian market, easily affordable to universities and research institutes. The main characteristics of the rotating table and its supporting materials are listed, and a classical experiment is described illustrating its application.
Keywords:
rotating table; geophysical fluid dynamics; Coriolis accelerations; Taylor column
