Shared flowchart

Environmental · L5 · Geostrophic and Ekman Balance

Sign in to clone

The force balance in large-scale atmospheric and oceanic flows, from geostrophic interior to Ekman boundary layer.

by @openstemUpdated Environmental
Rotating Earth: Ω = 7.29×10⁻⁵ rad/sCoriolis force: 2Ω×uGeostrophic balance: f k̂×u = −(1/ρ)∇pJet streams and geostrophic windThermal wind: vertical shear ∝ horizontal ∇TEkman layer: δ_E = (2ν/f)^½Ekman spiral: wind rotates and weakens with depthEkman pumping: w_E = (1/ρf) curl(τ_s)Coastal upwelling / downwelling driven by wind stress curl

We use privacy-friendly product analytics (no session recording, PII masked) to improve OpenStem. Load analytics? Privacy Policy