brunt_vaisala_frequency_squared¶

metpy.calc.brunt_vaisala_frequency_squared(height, potential_temperature, vertical_dim=0)¶

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

height (xarray.DataArray or pint.Quantity) – Atmospheric (geopotential) height
potential_temperature (xarray.DataArray or pint.Quantity) – Atmospheric potential temperature
vertical_dim (int, optional) – The axis corresponding to vertical in the potential temperature array, defaults to 0, unless height and potential_temperature given as xarray.DataArray, in which case it is automatically determined from the coordinate metadata.

Returns

pint.Quantity or xarray.DataArray – The square of the Brunt-Vaisala frequency. Given as pint.Quantity, unless both height and potential_temperature arguments are given as xarray.DataArray, in which case will be xarray.DataArray.

Changed in version 1.0: Renamed heights, axis parameters to height, vertical_dim