vertical_velocity

metpy.calc.vertical_velocity(omega, pressure, temperature, mixing_ratio=0)

Calculate w from omega assuming hydrostatic conditions.

This function converts vertical velocity with respect to pressure \(\left(\omega = \frac{Dp}{Dt}\right)\) to that with respect to height \(\left(w = \frac{Dz}{Dt}\right)\) assuming hydrostatic conditions on the synoptic scale. By Equation 7.33 in [Hobbs2006],

\[\omega \simeq -\rho g w\]

so that

\[w \simeq \frac{- \omega}{\rho g}\]

Density (\(\rho\)) is calculated using the density() function, from the given pressure and temperature. If mixing_ratio is given, the virtual temperature correction is used, otherwise, dry air is assumed.

Parameters

• omega (pint.Quantity) – Vertical velocity in terms of pressure

• pressure (pint.Quantity) – Total atmospheric pressure

• temperature (pint.Quantity) – Air temperature

• mixing_ratio (pint.Quantity, optional) – Mixing ratio of air

Returns

pint.Quantity – Vertical velocity in terms of height (in meters / second)

See also

density, vertical_velocity_pressure

vapor_pressure vertical_velocity_pressure