Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Baroclinity
In fluid dynamics, the baroclinity (sometimes called baroclinicity) is a measure of the stratification in a fluid. A baroclinic atmosphere is one for which the density depends on both the temperature and the pressure; contrast this with barotropic atmosphere, for which the density depends only on the pressure.
Baroclinity is proportional to
which again is proportional to the angle between surfaces of constant pressure and surfaces of constant density. Thus, in a barotropic fluid (which is defined by zero baroclinity), these surfaces are parallel.
Areas of high atmospheric baroclinity are characterized by the frequent formation of cyclones.
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details