# virtual_potential_temperature¶

metpy.calc.virtual_potential_temperature(pressure, temperature, mixing_ratio, molecular_weight_ratio=<Quantity(0.62195691, 'dimensionless')>)[source]

Calculate virtual potential temperature.

This calculation must be given an air parcel’s pressure, temperature, and mixing ratio. The implementation uses the formula outlined in [Markowski2010] pg.13.

Parameters
• pressure (pint.Quantity) – Total atmospheric pressure

• temperature (pint.Quantity) – Air temperature

• mixing_ratio (pint.Quantity) – Dimensionless mass mixing ratio

• molecular_weight_ratio (pint.Quantity or float, optional) – The ratio of the molecular weight of the constituent gas to that assumed for air. Defaults to the ratio for water vapor to dry air. ($$\epsilon\approx0.622$$)

Returns

pint.Quantity – Corresponding virtual potential temperature of the parcel

Notes

$\Theta_v = \Theta \frac{\text{w} + \epsilon}{\epsilon\,(1 + \text{w})}$

Changed in version 1.0: Renamed mixing parameter to mixing_ratio