exner_function

metpy.calc.exner_function(pressure, reference_pressure=<Quantity(1000.0, 'millibar')>)[source]

Calculate the Exner function.

\[\Pi = \left( \frac{p}{p_0} \right)^\kappa\]

This can be used to calculate potential temperature from temperature (and visa-versa), since

\[\Pi = \frac{T}{\theta}\]
Parameters:
  • pressure (pint.Quantity) – The total atmospheric pressure
  • reference_pressure (pint.Quantity, optional) – The reference pressure against which to calculate the Exner function, defaults to P0
Returns:

pint.Quantity – The value of the Exner function at the given pressure

See also

potential_temperature(), temperature_from_potential_temperature()