Dear John Schutkeker:

"John Schutkeker" wrote in
message
. 33.102...
....
Of course there will be simplifying assumptions, probably based
on
Reynolds number. Right mow, my intiution says laminar flow,
but of
course that will have to be checked. If it's turbulent or
transitional,
I'm not sure what to do, but I think that there are some
empirical
models for the spectrum, right?

I would look to heating models of aircraft wings. The leading
edge impact would be non-similar, but shear drag over the surface
woudl be what you are looking for.

Any permanent features on the surface? Something like the
"Great Red Spot" of Jupiter notwithstanding.

Nope, idealized case, for now, including just fluid layers, and
not the
crust. The idea is to see whether crustal or interior losses
dominate.
I'd have to assume a boundary condition at the crust.

But thanks for the red spot insight. These planets aren't gas
giants,
but I don't know if that makes the issue go away. I wonder if
the
presence of a surface crust would be enough to suppress that.

If you are requiring an entirely fluid surface (???), then you
must have some vortex... if not two. One would expect them at /
near the poles. Unlike Jupiter.

David A. Smith