geopotential

English

Etymology

From geo- +‎ potential.

Noun

geopotential (plural geopotentials)

1. (meteorology) The work that must be done at a given altitude in raising a unit mass from sea level to that altitude against the earth's gravitational field.
   • 2004, Zhu Xun, Li Xiaofan, Cai Ming, Observation, Theory And Modeling Of Atmospheric Variability, →ISBN, page 13:

     It might sound puzzling that the ageostrophic geopotential (or the ageostrophic pressure in z-coordinate) has no impact on the evolution of the vorticity of a quasi-geostrophic disturbance and yet it affects the perturbation kinetic energetics (not globally but locally).

Derived terms

• geopotential height

See also

• geostrophic wind
• geostrophic wind level
• gradient wind