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Everything about Geopotential height
Type of altitude above mean sea level
Geopotential height, also known as geopotential altitude or geopotential elevation, is a vertical coordinate representing the work involved in lifting one unit of mass over one unit of length through a hypothetical space in which the acceleration of gravity is assumed constant. Geopotential heights are referenced to Earth's mean sea level, taking its best-fitting equigeopotential as a reference surface or vertical datum. In SI units, a geopotential height difference of one meter implies the vertical transport of a parcel of one kilogram; adopting the standard gravity value, it corresponds to a constant work or potential energy difference of 9.80665 joules. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Geopotential heightA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Causal mediation of urban temperature by geopotential height in U.S. citiesInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: VLBI data, acquisition, environmental effectsThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: The Arctic oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fieldsCited 3,487 times
- Go sideways: Barometric formulaA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Reference atmospheric modelA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun The height above sea level of a given pressure in the atmosphere
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
The Arctic oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields
Zonal mean temperature, pressure, zonal wind and geopotential height as functions of latitude
Validation of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder temperature and geopotential height measurements
Tropical-Extratropical Geopotential Height Teleconnections during the Northern Hemisphere Winter
Coherent Fluctuations of Fxtratropical Geopotential Height and Tropical Convection in Intraseasonal Time Scales
The Evaluation of Winds from Geopotential Height Data in the Stratosphere
Geographical Variations in the Vertical Structure of Geopotential Height Fluctuations1
Forecasting Northern Hemisphere 700-mb Geopotential Height Anomalies Using Empirical Normal Modes
🆕 Influential since 2022
Causal mediation of urban temperature by geopotential height in U.S. cities
Determining precipitable water vapour from upper‐air temperature, pressure and geopotential height
Rising geopotential height under global warming
High-resolution regional gravity field modeling in data-challenging regions for the realization of geopotential-based height systems
Why Do DJF 2023/24 Upper‐Level 200‐hPa Geopotential Height Forecasts Look Different From the Expected El Niño Response?
📚 Books worth reading
- 📕VLBI data, acquisition, environmental effectsT. Herring · 1995
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Barometric formula The barometric formula is a formula used to model how the air pressure (or air density) changes with altitude. The U.S. Standard Atmosphere gives two equations…
- Reference atmospheric model A reference atmospheric model describes how the ideal gas properties (namely: pressure, temperature, density, and molecular weight) of an atmosphere change…
- U.S. Standard Atmosphere The U.S. Standard Atmosphere is a static atmospheric model of how the pressure, temperature, density, and viscosity of the Earth's atmosphere change over…
- Vertical pressure variation Vertical pressure variation is the variation in pressure as a function of elevation. Depending on the fluid in question and the context being referred…
- International Standard Atmosphere The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) is a static atmospheric model of how the pressure, temperature, density, and viscosity of the Earth's atmosphere…
- Physical geodesy Physical geodesy is the study of the physical properties of Earth's gravity and its potential field (the geopotential), with a view to their application…
- Gravity of Earth The gravity of Earth, denoted by g, is the net acceleration that is imparted to objects due to the combined effect of gravitation (from mass distribution…
- Scale height In physics, a scale height, usually denoted by the capital letter H, is a distance (vertical or radial) over which a physical quantity decreases by a factor…