What causes geostrophic currents?
This occurs because the Earth is rotating. The rotation of the earth results in a “force” being felt by the water moving from the high to the low, known as Coriolis force. The Coriolis force acts at right angles to the flow, and when it balances the pressure gradient force, the resulting flow is known as geostrophic.
What is Supergeostrophic flow?
A gradient flow through a ridge is termed “supergeostrophic”. The “super” means the wind speed is greater than what would be expected if the wind was geostrophic.
What is Cyclostrophic wind flow?
cyclostrophic wind, wind circulation that results from a balance between the local atmospheric pressure gradient and the centrifugal force. It can approximate the behaviour of the wind in the atmosphere near the Equator, where the influence of the Coriolis force in the atmosphere is small.
What is the geostrophic current and how is it produced?
geostrophic current An ocean current that is the product of a balance between pressure-gradient forces and the Coriolis force. This produces a current flow along the pressure gradient.
What are gradient currents?
In oceanography, a current determined by the condition that the horizontal pressure gradient due to the (hydrostatic) distribution of mass balances the Coriolis force due to the earth’s rotation. The gradient current corresponds to the geostrophic wind in meteorology.
What are ridges and troughs?
Ridges and troughs are often mentioned on the weather forecast. A ridge is an elongated area of relatively high pressure extending from the center of a high-pressure region. A trough is an elongated area of relatively low pressure extending from the center of a region of low pressure.
What is Ageostrophic wind?
A wind above the boundary layer that blows at a different speed from that of the geostrophic wind predicted by the pressure-gradient force.