Meteorology 411 - Weekly Labs

Optional notes

Space for optional news or links.

Week 6 - Quasigeostrophic Theory - QG Height Tendency Equation


One of the most powerful and heavily used approximations in operational meteorology is QG Theory. If one assumes the atmosphere is hydrostatic and mostly geostrophic (but allowing for some divergence effects), it can be shown that differential vorticity advection and horizontal temperature advection have a direct impact on vertical motion and height tendencies. Just remember, these approximations apply to large scales. The output of modern high-resolution forecast models may not be well-suited to applying QG Theory.