The velocity distribution of barotropic turbulence

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Abstract
We study the statistical properties of the velocity and velocity gradient distributions in barotropic turbulence. At large enough Reynolds number, the velocity distribution becomes non-Gaussian outside the vortex cores, and its characteristics are completely determined by the properties of the far field induced by the coherent vortices. The velocity gradients are always non-Gaussian inside coherent vortices, due to the spatial velocity correlations associated with the ordered flow in the vortex cores, and become non-Gaussian also in the background turbulence at large enough Reynolds number.