Towards a General Theory for Convective Vortices

We develop a general theory for convective vortices that includes irreversible thermodynamics and relaxes the need for a lower boundary contained in the theory proposed by Renno et al. (1998). The theory is based on the thermodynamics of heat engines and predicts the vortices' maximum temperature perturbation, central pressure drop, and windspeed. Moreover, it provides a simple physical interpretation to convective vortices frequently observed in geophysical systems. We apply the theory to convective vortices on Earth, other planets, moons, and the sun.