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If the gradient of a function is non-zero at a point , the direction of the gradient is the direction in which the function increases most quickly from , and the magnitude of the gradient is the rate of increase in that direction, the greatest absolute directional derivative. [1]
A contour plot of (,) = +, showing the gradient vector in black, and the unit vector scaled by the directional derivative in the direction of in orange. The gradient vector is longer because the gradient points in the direction of greatest rate of increase of a function.
In common usage, wind gradient, more specifically wind speed gradient [1] or wind velocity gradient, [2] or alternatively shear wind, [3] is the vertical component of the gradient of the mean horizontal wind speed in the lower atmosphere. [4] It is the rate of increase of wind strength with unit increase in height above ground level.
The idea is to take repeated steps in the opposite direction of the gradient (or approximate gradient) of the function at the current point, because this is the direction of steepest descent. Conversely, stepping in the direction of the gradient will lead to a trajectory that maximizes that function; the procedure is then known as gradient ascent.
More generally, for a function of n variables (, …,), also called a scalar field, the gradient is the vector field: = (, …,) = + + where (=,,...,) are mutually orthogonal unit vectors. As the name implies, the gradient is proportional to, and points in the direction of, the function's most rapid (positive) change.
A contour plot of (,) = +, showing the gradient vector in black, and the unit vector scaled by the directional derivative in the direction of in orange. The gradient vector is longer because the gradient points in the direction of greatest rate of increase of a function.
At each image point, the gradient vector points in the direction of largest possible intensity increase, and the length of the gradient vector corresponds to the rate of change in that direction.
In hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, the pressure gradient (typically of air but more generally of any fluid) is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the pressure increases the most rapidly around a particular location. The pressure gradient is a dimensional quantity expressed in units of pascals per metre (Pa/m).