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In physics, the Coriolis force is an inertial (or fictitious) force that acts on objects in motion within a frame of reference that rotates with respect to an inertial frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the force acts to the left of the motion of the object.
The Coriolis frequency ƒ, also called the Coriolis parameter or Coriolis coefficient, [1] is equal to twice the rotation rate Ω of the Earth multiplied by the sine of the latitude . The rotation rate of the Earth (Ω = 7.2921 × 10 −5 rad/s) can be calculated as 2 π / T radians per second, where T is the rotation period of the Earth which ...
It is a thermally direct circulation within the troposphere that emerges due to differences in insolation and heating between the tropics and the subtropics. On a yearly average, the circulation is characterized by a circulation cell on each side of the equator. The Southern Hemisphere Hadley cell is slightly stronger on average than its ...
Ekman transport is the net motion of fluid as the result of a balance between Coriolis and turbulent drag forces. In the picture above, the wind blowing North in the northern hemisphere creates a surface stress and a resulting Ekman spiral is found below it in the water column. Ekman transport is part of Ekman motion theory, first investigated ...
The three main drivers that work together to cause upwelling are wind, Coriolis effect, and Ekman transport. They operate differently for different types of upwelling, but the general effects are the same. [6] In the overall process of upwelling, winds blow across the sea surface at a particular direction, which causes a wind-water interaction.
In oceanography, a gyre (/ ˈdʒaɪər /) is any large system of circulating ocean surface currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity, horizontal friction and vertical friction determine the circulatory patterns from the wind stress curl (torque).
the Coriolis effect. In this, Stommel assumed an ocean of constant density and depth + seeing ocean currents; he also introduced a linearized, frictional term to account for the dissipative effects that prevent the real ocean from accelerating. He starts, thus, from the steady-state momentum and continuity equations:
The structure will eventually dissipate due to friction and mixing of water properties. A geostrophic current is an oceanic current in which the pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis effect. The direction of geostrophic flow is parallel to the isobars, with the high pressure to the right of the flow in the Northern Hemisphere, and ...