potential_vorticity_barotropic

metpy.calc.potential_vorticity_barotropic(heights, u, v, dx, dy, lats, dim_order='yx')[source]

Calculate the barotropic (Rossby) potential vorticity.

\[PV = \frac{f + \zeta}{H}\]

This formula is based on equation 7.27 [Hobbs2006].

Parameters

  • heights ((M, N) pint.Quantity) – atmospheric heights

  • u ((M, N) pint.Quantity) – x component of the wind

  • v ((M, N) pint.Quantity) – y component of the wind

  • dx (pint.Quantity) – The grid spacing(s) in the x-direction. If an array, there should be one item less than the size of u along the applicable axis.

  • dy (pint.Quantity) – The grid spacing(s) in the y-direction. If an array, there should be one item less than the size of u along the applicable axis.

  • lats ((M, N) ndarray) – latitudes of the wind data in radians or with appropriate unit information attached

Returns

(M, N) pint.Quantity – barotropic potential vorticity

Notes

If inputs have more than two dimensions, they are assumed to have either leading dimensions of (x, y) or trailing dimensions of (y, x), depending on the value of dim_order.