  We discuss the dynamics of zonal (or unidirectional) jets for barotropic
flows forced by Gaussian stochastic fields with white in time correlation
functions. This problem contains the stochastic dynamics of 2D Navier-Stokes
equation as a special case. We consider the limit of weak forces and
dissipation, when there is a time scale separation between the inertial time
scale (fast) and the spin-up or spin-down time (large) needed to reach an
average energy balance. In this limit, we show that an adiabatic reduction (or
stochastic averaging) of the dynamics can be performed. We then obtain a
kinetic equation that describes the slow evolution of zonal jets over a very
long time scale, where the effect of non-zonal turbulence has been integrated
out. The main theoretical difficulty, achieved in this work, is to analyze the
stationary distribution of a Lyapunov equation that describes quasi-Gaussian
fluctuations around each zonal jet, in the inertial limit. This is necessary to
prove that there is no ultraviolet divergence at leading order in such a way
that the asymptotic expansion is self-consistent. We obtain at leading order a
Fokker--Planck equation, associated to a stochastic kinetic equation, that
describes the slow jet dynamics. Its deterministic part is related to well
known phenomenological theories (for instance Stochastic Structural Stability
Theory) and to quasi-linear approximations, whereas the stochastic part allows
to go beyond the computation of the most probable zonal jet. We argue that the
effect of the stochastic part may be of huge importance when, as for instance
in the proximity of phase transitions, more than one attractor of the dynamics
is present.
