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Everything about Geostrophic current
Oceanic flow in which the pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis effect
A geostrophic current is an oceanic current in which the pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis effect. The direction of geostrophic flow is parallel to the isobars, with the high pressure to the right of the flow in the Northern Hemisphere, and the high pressure to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. The concept is familiar from weather maps, whose isobars show the direction of geostrophic winds. Geostrophic flows may be barotropic or baroclinic. A geostrophic current may also be thought of as a rotating shallow water wave with a frequency of zero. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Geostrophic currentA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Sea surface height anomaly and geostrophic current velocity from altimetry measurements over the Arctic Ocean (2011–2020)Influential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Modeling studies of wind and thermohaline forcing on the California current systemThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Geostrophic transport of the South Equatorial Current in the AtlanticCited 99 times
- Go sideways: Geostrophic windA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Balanced flowA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Geostrophic transport of the South Equatorial Current in the Atlantic
Geostrophic transport in the Brazil current region north of 20°S
Zonation and geostrophic flow of the Antarctic circumpolar current at Drake Passage
Wave propagation and growth on a surface front in a two-layer geostrophic current
Geostrophic Transport in the Benguela Current Region
The Propagation of Internal Waves in a Geostrophic Current
Correlation scales, objective mapping, and absolute geostrophic flow in the California Current
Ageostrophic, anticyclonic instability of a geostrophic, barotropic boundary current
🆕 Influential since 2022
Sea surface height anomaly and geostrophic current velocity from altimetry measurements over the Arctic Ocean (2011–2020)
Temporal Evolution of a Geostrophic Current under Sea Ice: Analytical and Numerical Solutions
Mapping high-resolution surface current by incorporating geostrophic equilibrium with surface quasigeostrophic theory using multi-source satellite observations
The effect of Ekman and geostrophic surface current on the distribution of SST variability over the Persian Gulf
On the Types of Instability of a Geostrophic Current with a Vertical Parabolic Profile of Velocity
📚 Books worth reading
Modeling studies of wind and thermohaline forcing on the California current systemPhilip W. Vance · 1997
Formulation of efficient finite element prediction modelsR. T. Williams · 1980
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Geostrophic wind In atmospheric science, geostrophic flow (/ˌdʒiːəˈstrɒfɪk, ˌdʒiːoʊ-, -ˈstroʊ-/) is the theoretical wind that would result from an exact balance between…
- Balanced flow In atmospheric science, balanced flow is an idealisation of atmospheric motion. The idealisation consists in considering the behaviour of one isolated…
- Ocean dynamics Ocean dynamics define and describe the flow of water within the oceans. Ocean temperature and motion fields can be separated into three distinct layers:…
- Wind stress In physical oceanography and fluid dynamics, the wind stress is the shear stress exerted by the wind on the surface of large bodies of water – such as…
- Baroclinic instabilities in the ocean A baroclinic instability is a fluid dynamical instability of fundamental importance in the atmosphere and ocean. It can lead to the formation of transient…
- Primitive equations The primitive equations are a set of nonlinear partial differential equations that are used to approximate global atmospheric flow and are used in most…
- Thermal wind In atmospheric science, the thermal wind is the vector difference between the geostrophic wind at upper altitudes minus that at lower altitudes in the…
- Equatorial wave Equatorial waves are oceanic and atmospheric waves trapped close to the equator, meaning that they decay rapidly away from the equator, but can propagate…