Antitriptic wind (Physics & Chemistry)
From The Encyclopedia of Earth
Atmospheric Science (main)
Antitriptic wind
March 29, 2010, 12:00 am
June 13, 2012, 6:09 pm
An antitriptic wind is a type of wind that occurs when the pressure gradient is balanced by the force of friction. These are the atmospheric analogs of Poisseuille flow.
Since Coriolis force effects are neglected, antitriptic flow manifests either in equatorial regions (irrespective of the motion's length-scale), or other locales where the Ekman number of the flow is sufficiently high (normally applicable for small-scale atmospheric processes), in contrast to geostrophic flow.
Antitriptic flow can be used to describe some boundary-layer phenomena such as ocean breezes, Ekman pumping and low level jets such as over the Great Plains of the USA.
| This article is written at a definitional level only. Authors wishing to expand this entry are inivited to expand the present treatment, which additions will be peer reviewed prior to publication of any expansion. |
Further Reading:
- Physical Oceanography Index
- John A. Dutton. The Ceaseless Wind: An Introduction to the Theory of Atmospheric Motion. Dover, 1986.
