Review: Surface Pressure Tendency equation
Page Last modified: 6 December 2000
- form of equation:
(- Psfc tend.) ~ (Abs. vort. advection at
500 mb) + (thickness advection by sfc wind)
- PVA => P falls, NVA => P rises
- WAA => P falls, CAA => P rises
- notes:
- sign of P change ambiguous where T advect. opposes vorticity advect.
- for intensification: PVA above sfc low center. This implies that
upper vort. max (and thus the upper trough) must be upstream from
the sfc low.
- T advection greatest on cold air side of the fronts
- From T advection, expect sfc H to move in SE direction,
expect sfc L to move in NE direction. So the H and L paths diverge.
- The paths parallel to thickness (h) contours.
- h contours look similar to 500 mb Z contours.
- leads to notion of steering level based on 500 mb flow
- empirical rule: developing sfc system moves in direction of
500 mb flow but with 1/2 the speed.
- motion at 1 level is linked to other levels
- Example of cyclone development See fig. 4.3
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