Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to the pseudo force caused by the earth's rotation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Meteorology . Referring to the balance, in the atmosphere, between the horizontal Coriolis forces and the horizontal pressure forces.
  • adjective Meteorology . Relates to or arises from the deflective force exerted on the atmosphere due to the rotation of the earth.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[geo– + Greek strophē, a turning; see strophe + –ic.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek geo- + στροφή (strophē, "a turn, bend, twist") + -ic.

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Examples

  • Winds of this type are usually called geostrophic winds.

    Wind 2008

  • Output would also be less dependent on location than it is on the ground, simply because terrain doesn't matter much when you're at 35,000ft; however, since the jetstream and other "geostrophic" winds don't blow much at latitudes near the equator, it would be useful primarily for middle - and higher-latitudes.

    Boing Boing: January 29, 2006 - February 4, 2006 Archives 2006

  • In the St. Lawrence Island polynya region, changes in regional oceanography due to the position or size of the Gulf of Anadyr gyre are ultimately related to the northward transport of water through the Bering Strait, and to the geostrophic balance within the Arctic Ocean basin.

    Past variability in Arctic marine systems 2009

  • In this simple model, the overflow is assumed to pass through a channel, sufficiently narrow to allow neglect of geostrophic effects.

    Ocean processes of climatic importance in the Arctic 2009

  • Surface winds on a weather map do not blow exactly parallel to the isobars as in geostrophic and gradient winds.

    Wind 2008

  • Relation between the geostrophic flux of the Kuroshio in the Eastern China Sea and its large meander in the south of Japan.

    Kuroshio Current large marine ecosystem 2008

  • Figure 7: A geostrophic wind flows parallel to the isobars.

    Wind 2008

  • Gradient winds are slightly more complex than geostrophic winds because they include the action of yet another physical force.

    Wind 2008

  • Finally, Buys Ballot's Law states that when you stand with your back to a geostrophic wind in the Northern Hemisphere, the center of low pressure will be to your left and the high pressure to your right.

    Wind 2008

  • The horizontal divergence of the balanced solution becomes important and the traditional balance equation of quasi-geostrophic dynamics must be extended.

    Possible ITCZ Influence « Climate Audit 2007

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