Hydrostatic Law

up:: 034 MOC Atmospheric Physics

Given a differential element of area and height ,¹ it will feel a pressure above it, and a pressure below it.

Thus, the resultant force it feels is

The acceleration it feels is , and its mass is .

Equalling both, we have

Therefore,

This equation motivates the definition of a Geopotential

and a Geopotential Height

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References

• WALLACE, John Michael; HOBBS, Peter Victor. Atmospheric science: an introductory survey. 2nd ed ed. Amsterdam Paris: Academic press, 2006.

Footnotes

1. And given a gravitational acceleration and constant density . ↩