dishpan experiments

Model experiments carried out by differential heating of a fluid in a flat rotating pan.

Such experiments, by establishing similarity with the atmosphere through such nondimensional parameters as the Rossby number, Taylor number, etc., have reproduced many important features of the general circulation and of smaller scales of atmospheric motion.
See Rossby regime.
Fultz, D. 1951. Compendium of Meteorology. 1235–1248.

1. The study of the physics, chemistry, and dynamics of the earth's atmosphere, including the related effects at the air–earth boundary over both land and the oceans. Fundamental topics include the composition, structure, and motion of the atmosphere. The goals ascribed to meteorology are the complete understanding and accurate prediction of atmospheric phenomena.