Vortex instability of the asymptotic dissipation profile in a porous medium

In this note we consider the thermoconvective stability of the recently-discovered asymptotic dissipation profile (ADP). The ADP is a uniform thickness, parallel-flow boundary layer which is induced by a cold surface in a warm saturated porous medium in the presence of viscous dissipation. We have considered destabilisation in the form of stream-wise vortex disturbances. The critical wavenumber and Rayleigh number for the onset of convection have been determined for all angles of the cooled surface between the horizontal and the vertical for which the ADP exists. The paper closes with a presentation of some strongly nonlinear computations of steady vortices.