Geography 2310A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Geostrophic Wind, Zonal Flow, Meridional Flow
12 Dec 2019
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Geostrophic wind- blows straight and parallel to isoheights: cf acting upon pgf, when the cf exactly balances the pgf, a geostrophic wind results. Development of a gwind: air begins to move bcz off the pgf; cf deflects air to the right; cf balances the pgf. Winds aloft don"t typically blow in a straight line: geostrophic wind is a hypothetical wind. In reality, wind aloft flows in a meandering motion gradient wind. Winds and upper-level maps: winds blow parallel to isoheights in a wavy w east direction in the mid-latitudes. Isoheight decrease in elevation from s north: the pattern of wind across n. america takes on one of these 2 forms, meridional flow wind flowing in large, looping meanders, zonal flow. Implication for weather systems: move more quickly during a zonal flow. Causes wind to blow around h and l in a circular motion. Circulation patterns [pgf straight cf bends to right circulation guide it back toward center.
