What causes baroclinic instability?

Baroclinic instability is understood to be the dynamic cause for synoptic-scale, midlatitude storms. It is the result of a vertical shear in the basic-state zonal wind. The formal relationship is a consequence of the significance of the potential vorticity gradient for both instabilities.

What is a baroclinic zone?

Baroclinic Zone A region in which a temperature gradient exists on a constant pressure surface. Baroclinic zones are favored areas for strengthening and weakening systems; barotropic systems, on the other hand, do not exhibit significant changes in intensity. Also, wind shear is characteristic of a baroclinic zone.

What is a baroclinic atmosphere associated with?

An atmospheric state in which density depends upon both temperature and pressure and in which the geostrophic wind varies with height and is related to the horizontal temperature gradient via the thermal wind equation.

What is baroclinic forcing?

A high significance of planetary rotation and poleward eddy heat fluxes is determined for general circulation driven by baroclinic forcing due to cloud layer heating. This strong poleward heat transport induces downward momentum transport of indirect cells in the regions of weak high-latitude jets.

What is the difference between a baroclinic and barotropic atmosphere?

As adjectives the difference between baroclinic and barotropic. is that baroclinic is describing an atmospheric system in which the isobars are at an angle to the isopycnals or isotherms while barotropic is (meteorology) in which the pressure of the atmosphere is dependent upon its density only.

What is Barotropic and baroclinic?

BAROTROPIC- Region of uniform temperature distribution; A lack of fronts. The tropical latitudes are barotropic. There are no fronts in the tropics. BAROCLINIC- Distinct air mass regions exist. Fronts separate warmer from colder air.

What is baroclinic circulation?

Baroclinic flows are flows that are not barotropic. In this case the fluid density depends on pressure AND temperature, salinity, constituent concentration. Heavy fluid sitting adjacent to lighter fluid will sink and rise, respectively. These flows are said to be baroclinic, meaning pressure breaking.

What is baroclinic torque?

D→uDt=→g−1ρ→∇p, The baroclinic torque →B is the mechanism by which density variations influence vorticity. This torque is zero in the case of a barotropic fluid (section 6.6.

What is a barotropic atmosphere?

A state of the atmosphere in which density depends only upon pressure, that is, a state such that surfaces of constant pressure and constant density coincide, so that the geostrophic wind is independent of height.

What is a baroclinic temperature gradient?

In baroclinic instability, the horizontal temperature gradient, which is proportional to vertical shear of the wind through the thermal wind relation, is the key source of a change in sign of the potential vorticity gradient.

What is the difference between barotropic and baroclinic?