brunt_vaisala_frequency_squared

metpy.calc.brunt_vaisala_frequency_squared(heights, potential_temperature, axis=0)[source]

Calculate the square of the Brunt-Vaisala frequency.

Brunt-Vaisala frequency squared (a measure of atmospheric stability) is given by the formula:

\[N^2 = \frac{g}{\theta} \frac{d\theta}{dz}\]

This formula is based off of Equations 3.75 and 3.77 in [Hobbs2006].

Parameters:
  • heights (array-like) – One-dimensional profile of atmospheric height
  • potential_temperature (array-like) – Atmospheric potential temperature
  • axis (int, optional) – The axis corresponding to vertical in the potential temperature array, defaults to 0.
Returns:

array-like – The square of the Brunt-Vaisala frequency.