Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
2
The basic equations
''A cloud is made of billows upon billows upon billows that look like clouds.
As you come closer to a cloud you don't get something smooth, but
irregularities at a smaller scale.''
Benoit Mandelbrot
''There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.''
G.K. Chesterton—The Everlasting Man
The three fundamental physical laws that are used to diagnose the physical
processes in severe convective storms are as follows: Newton's equation of motion
applied to a fluid (called the ''Navier-Stokes equations'' after their formulators or,
more simply, the ''equations of motion''), the first law of thermodynamics applied
to a fluid, and a statement of the continuity (conservation) of mass, including dry
air, moist air, and the various forms of water substance (see Bluestein, 1992, 1993;
Holton and Hakim, 2012; or other elementary textbooks for basic treatments).
2.1 THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION
2.1.1 The horizontal equation of motion
The equations of motion are usually separated into a horizontal component and
a vertical component, each of which is slightly different. The inviscid (i.e.,
frictionless) horizontal equation of motion (its ''primitive'' form contains no sim-
plifications or, more precisely, has the smallest possible number of simplifications)
in vector form is as follows:
Dv h =
Dt ¼ @
v h =@
t þ v
v h ¼ 1
=r p
ð 2
:
1 Þ
EJ
Search WWH ::




Custom Search