Article
Article
Geostrophic wind
Article By:
Sanders, Frederick Department of Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Bluestein, Howard B. Department of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.287400
A hypothetical wind based upon the assumption that a perfect balance exists between the horizontal components of the Coriolis force and the horizontal pressure gradient force per unit mass, with the implication that viscous forces and accelerations are negligible. Application of the geostrophic wind facilitates an approximation of the wind field from the pressure data over vast regions in which few wind observations are available.
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