Coriolis Force on Tropical

Inertial Forces Cyclone Formation Coriolis Parameter

The Coriolis Force is an inertial force that originates The Coriolis Parameter is what meteorologists use to
from examining motion in a rotating reference frame. Brian Leech quantify the effects of the Coriolis Force on weather,
Newton’s Second Law holds well in cases where both based upon latitude.
reference frames are inertial, or non-accelerating.
Newton’s Second does not hold well in cases where
We wind up with this equation, with two additional inertial force
one reference frame is accelerating with respect to values. The first is the Coriolis Force, the other is the centrifugal
another. An example of this is a train car in motion, force.
with a ball being thrown inside of the train car. The Where phi is the latitude of the particle.
inertial frame is anchored to the ground, and the non- Evidently, the deflection due to the Coriolis
inertial frame is a frame fixed in the car that is moving Force is greatest at the poles and least at the
relative to the inertial frame with a given velocity and This is the Coriolis Force, strongly dependent on the velocity of equator, and the Coriolis parameter reflects this
acceleration. When the ball’s motion is examined and the particle and the angular velocity of the earth. by being 0 at the equator and 1 at the poles.
measured relative to the accelerating frame, Newton’s
Second looks a bit different.
Coriolis Force
Ball’s motion relative to the inertial The Coriolis Force deflects particles perpendicular to
frame One particular relationship
their path of travel, with a direction given by the right Concurrently ,the other relationship
examined by Deng et al examined determined that a greater
Total velocity of the ball (relative to hand rule. In the northern hemisphere, this direction is (2018) is the reliance of Coriolis parameter would lead to a
ground = relative to car + car) always to the right of the velocity vector of the moving the change in relative greater divergence over time, which
particle. vorticity over time on the would slow tropical cyclone
divergence of the air and development. Here, the rightmost
the Coriolis parameter – value is geopotential, the variance in
Previous equation differentiated for some given low level the potential of earth’s gravity with
convergence, large Coriolis height.
Newton’s Second in the non- parameter causes greater
inertial frame acceleration of vorticity,
favoring stronger tropical
cyclone development.
Note the addition of the extra term, the inertial force.
We experience inertial forces often, like when an Evidently, we need some balance between factors,
airplane takes off and we feel ourselves pushed back and Deng et al found that the Coriolis parameter
into the seat, or when a car goes around a tight curve controls the timing of rapid intensification and
How the seen path of a particle varies depending on what
and centrifugal force pushes passengers outwards. The frame the observer is in. overall size of a given tropical cyclone. In essence,
Coriolis Force is an inertial force, and must be included The Coriolis Force is responsible for the formation of an optimal Coriolis parameter would yield a
when we use Newton’s Second in a rotating frame. cyclones, as long as the air parcel that is moving is cyclone that develops faster and is larger, but is not
necessarily more intense.
close enough to the surface to be affected by friction.
Start with this, a particle with Growth rate of a
mass in some position in the In this image, the wind is
tropical cylone
inertial frame. traveling towards the low
peaks at about 5
pressure center, with the
This equation relates derivatives degrees latitude. If
Coriolis Force balancing the
of vectors in the inertial frame you’re interested in
pressure gradient force at high
to the corresponding derivative more information,
altitudes. At lower altitudes,
in the rotating frame. We can scan the QR code
friction slows the air parcel
use it on the previous equation for Deng et al’s
down, resulting in a lower
to solve for Newton’s Second in paper.
Coriolis Force, curving the wind
a rotating frame. Note that into the low pressure center.
Omega here is the angular This is effectively how cyclonic Acknowledgments Image References:
Image #1: Taylor
velocity of the earth. motion originates in most cases. Thanks to everyone in the physics department Image #2: Moran and Morgan
for helping me out with this seminar! Image #3 : Deng et al 23018)