Structural Stability of Composite Vortices and Its Application to Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Within the framework of a baroclinic quasi-geostrophic model of the atmosphere in the f-plane approximation, the properties of mesoscale vortices with a complex vortex core structure consisting of a set of embedded confocal ellipsoidal vortices are studied. These vortex structures are called one-component, two-component, three-component, and other vortex structures, depending on the number of embedded vortices. Such formations are called composite vortices. Two-component stationary composite vortices were previously studied, and it turned out that they do not undergo a unique transformation (transition) to a one-component vortex. In contrast to the generally accepted definition of structural stability/instability, it is this property that we will call structural instability. Here, we will show that a three-component composite vortex is a structurally stable formation upon its transformation into a two-component vortex. The property of structural stability also remains valid for multicomponent composite vortex structures of higher order than a three-component vortex. Thus, in the hierarchy of multicomponent composite vortex structures, the two-component vortex occupies a special place. It is impossible to create a simpler vortex structure from it--a homogeneous vortex--by transforming the geometric dimensions of an embedded internal vortex with continuous changes in all vortex characteristics. A somewhat different two-component composite vortex, composed of a primary stationary vortex and a small, ``weak,'' non-stationary vortex embedded within it, was previously studied. The stability of this formation was demonstrated. The structural stability (in the above sense) of stationary multicomponent vortex structures to similar perturbations is examined, and it is shown that they are also stable. As a fundamental application of the presented theory, an explanation of the properties of a two-component vortex formation--Jupiter's Great Red Spot--is proposed.