exner_function

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

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) – Total atmospheric pressure

• reference_pressure (pint.Quantity, optional) – The reference pressure against which to calculate the Exner function, defaults to metpy.constants.P0

Returns

pint.Quantity – Value of the Exner function at the given pressure

See also

potential_temperature, temperature_from_potential_temperature

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