Atmospheric Circulation without Presupposed Global Geometry
Atmospheric Circulation without Presupposed Global Geometry Cyclostrophic Sign Degeneracy, Stationary-Planar Mechanisms, and an Assumption-Explicit Program of Model Comparison Abstract The familiar association between pressure systems and preferred directions of atmospheric circulation is commonly interpreted through equations written for a rotating spherical surface. This interpretation is strongly developed mathematically and has extensive predictive applications, but the interpretation should not be confused with the observations themselves. This paper asks what may be inferred from atmospheric circulation without presupposing either spherical geometry or surface rotation. Five principal findings emerge. First, cyclostrophic balance determines the magnitude of tangential velocity but not its clockwise or counterclockwise sign. This sign degeneracy applies to vortices in which an inward pressure-gradient force supplies centripetal acceleration; pure cyclostrophic balance canno...
