Relationship between the Pressure Pattern and the Wind

Abstract

Using an interative method, the stream lines in two typical cases, i.e. a cyclonic and an anticyclonic 500-mb flow patterns are obtained from the balance equation. It is shown that the patterns of stream lines are very similar to those of height contours, but significant differences appear near the centre of cyclone. Wind speeds which correspond to the stream lines thus calculated give better coincidence with the observed ones than the geostrophic wind speeds. This improvement is explained chiefly by the concept of gradient wind.
Further the integral form of the balance equation is obtained, and it is shown that the departure of the stream lines from the height contours is due to the effects of vorticity and kinetic energy.