Wind and General Circulation of

Atmosphere

R. K. Singh
Department of Agrometerology, College of Agriculture
G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology,
Pantnagar – 263 145, U S Nagar, Uttarakhand
 Wind

• Wind is regarded as rate of movement of air in an instantaneous

direction, or

• Wind is the air in horizontal motion in response to the difference in

atmospheric pressure, or

• Air in horizontal motion is called wind

• The vertically moving air columns are called as currents

• The direction from which wind is blowing is called wind direction

• Wind turning to right from their course is known as Veer Winds

• Winds turning to left from their course known as back wind

The winds has three components

i. Horizontal movement (u east-west)

ii. Vertical (ω)
iii. North South component (v)

•Vertical component is very small being about 1/100th of the

horizontal component.

•Thus, wind means only horizontal component.

•Wind is specified by its direction and speed.

•The unit of wind speed is knot.

Conversion factor for different units are as follows

1 Knot (kt) =1.852 km/hr

1 km/hr = 0.5399 Knots

1 Knot = 0.514 m/sec

 Conversions between common units of speed

m/s km/hr mph knot ft/s

1 m/s= 1 3.6 2.236936* 1.943844* 3.280840*
1 km/h= 0.277778* 1 0.621371* 0.539957* 0.911344*
1mph= 0.44704 1.609344 1 0.868976* 1.466667*
1 knot= 0.514444* 1.852 1.150779* 1 1.687810*
1 ft/s 0.3048 1.09728 0.681818* 0.592484* 1

(* = approximate values)
Significance of Wind in Agriculture

• Wind is an important weather parameter.

• Its direction as well as speed is significant as it affects crop plants in

the following ways:

i. It influences transpiration and intake of carbon dioxide

ii. It helps in the movements of cold and hot waves

iii. It determines the direction of clouds/fogs

iv. It acts as a carrier of many crop diseases/insect pests

v. Strong winds cause lodging in standing crops especially just

after irrigation
vi. Wind may speed the chilling of plants or on some occasions,
prevent frost by disrupting a temperature inversion.

vii. Wind dispersal of pollen and seeds is natural and necessary for
native vegetation and may be helpful for certain crops, but it is
detrimental when weed seeds are spread or when unwanted
cross fertilization of plants occur.
Causes of wind

• The hydrostatic balance of the atmosphere keeps the atmosphere without

collapse due to gravitational pull and pressure gradient force

• They act equally in opposite direction as shown in figure below

• The pressure gradient force is the change in atmosphere pressure

between two layers with difference in height

• It acts as a driving force for air motion, which moves from high to low
pressure

• It can be expressed as

Where,
PG= Pressure Gradient Force
dp = Change in pressure between two levels
dh = Perpendicular distance between two levels
• The driving force for all air motions is variation in atmosphere
pressure

• For horizontal variations in pressure, a force is created acting

from high to low pressure.

• The negative sign indicates that pressure gradient force is always

upward.
• It can be written as dp = - ρgdh which is known as the hydrostatic
equation

• The negative sign indicates that the force operates from high to low
pressure i.e. P decreases as h increases

or

• It represents the balance between the weight of unit mass of air on one
hand and its buoyancy on the other

• The above equation is valid if the atmosphere is said to be in hydrostatic

equilibrium

• If the term is greater than g, the air parcel will rise while sinks if it is
smaller
 Horizontal Movement of Air near Earth’s Surface
There are four controls on the horizontal movement of air near the earth’s
surface

i. Pressure Gradient force

ii. Coriolis force
iii. Centrifugal force
iv. Frictional force

Pressure Gradient force: Already discussed above

Coriolis Force

• The coriolis force is not a force but an effect due to rotation of earth

• Air motion is deflected to the right of direction of motion in the Northern

Hemisphere and to the left in Southern Hemisphere
• This can be expressed as
f=2ωv sinϕ

Where,
f = Coriolis force
ω = Angular velocity of the earth
v = Wind velocity
ϕ = latitude

• This effect is zero at equator and increases towards the pole as 50% at
30º latitude and 100% at pole.

Geostrophic Wind

• In the Northern Hemisphere, the wind that blow parallel to isobars

with low pressure towards left and high pressure towards right
under the balance of pressure gradient force and coriolis force is
known as Geostrophic wind.
• It can be expressed as

Where,
Vg = Geostrophic wind balancing between pressure gradient
and coriolis force

Fig: Geostrophic Wind balance between two forces

Centrifugal force

• When there is a marked curvature in the isobars, a third force is

introduced known a centrifugal force arises due to the curvature
of the isobars

• This acts outwards from the centre on any curved motion

• In case of rotation around a high pressure area, this force is in

the same direction as pressure gradient force and leads to
increase in wind speed over the calculated Geostrophic wind.
Gradient Wind

• The wind that blow parallel to isobar around the low pressure
centre under the balance of three forces namely pressure gradient,
coriolis and centrifugal forces known as gradient wind

• The speed differs significantly from that of the geostrophic wind

Subgeostrophic Wind Supergeostrophic Wind

 Subgeostrophic and supergeostrophic Wind

• A gradient flow through a trough is termed “subgeostrophic”

• The “sub” means the wind speed is less than what would be expected if
the wind was geostrophic

• In the example below (“subgeostrophic wind”), the wind is flowing

through a trough

• In this diagram below (the trough), the outward fleeing centrifugal force
is pointing in the same direction as the Coriolis (Northern Hemisphere,
Coriolis is to right of path of motion)

• Pressure Gradient Force (PGF) must balance both centrifugal and

coriolis
• For this to happen, the coriolis needs to shorten so that Coriolis +
centrifugal stays equal to the magnitude of the PGF. Since the
coriolis decreases, the wind speed decreases

• This allows the wind to stay parallel to the height contours

• Without this wind speed reduction the wind would follow a more
straight lined path that would cause it to move from lower toward
higher height contours

• Another way to think of this is that PGF is greater in magnitude than

the coriolis thus the wind is going to bend more in the direction of
PGF and this causes the flow to stay parallel to the height contours
•A gradient flow through a ridge is termed “supergeostrophic”

•The “super” means the wind speed is greater than what would be expected
if the wind was geostrophic

•In the diagram below (“supergeostrophic flow”), the outward fleeing

centrifugal force is pointing in the same direction as the PGF (Northern
Hemisphere, to left of path of motion)

•In this example the wind is flowing through a ridge. PGF and centrifugal
must balance Coriolis (Northern Hemisphere, Coriolis is to right of path of
motion)

•For this to happen, the coriolis needs to get longer so that Coriolis =
centrifugal + PGF. Since the coriolis increases, the wind speed increases

•This allows the wind to stay parallel to the height contours

• Without this wind speed increases the wind would follow a more straight
line path that would cause it to move from higher towards lower height
contours

• Another way to think of this is that the Coriolis is greater in magnitude than
the PGF thus the wind is going to bend more in the direction of Coriolis and
this causes the flow to stay parallel to the height contours.

 The point of this discussion is that the wind flows slower through
troughs and faster through ridges when height counter spacing is same
for each.
 In reality, the height counter spacing is typically much closer together
in a trough
 Thus, in reality, wind speed is stronger in troughs since the Pressure
Gradient Force is typically much higher in troughs.
Both the above cases are summarized in brief as

Subgeostrophic Wind

• PGF balanced by coriolis and centrifugal

• Since PGF = Coriolis + centrifugal, Coriolis is less than PGF

Consequence:

• Wind is parallel to height contours and wind speed is slower

• Occurs in troughs
Supergeostrophic Wind

• Coriolis balances by PGF and centrifugal

• Since Coriolis = PGF + centrifugal, Coriolis is greater than PGF

Consequences:

• Wind is parallel to height contours and wind speed is faster

• Occurs in ridges.
Frictional Force

• It is a self generating force which operates as soon as air begins to

move

• As we approach the surface of the earth, the influence of surface

friction is increasingly felt

• This frictional force acts directly against the air flow, leading to a
reduction in wind speed

• Since the coriolis force is a function of wind speed, it is also

reduced, even with straight parallel isobar, is no longer balanced

• The frictional force is maximum at surface and decreases with

height.
 Surface wind (real wind)

Fig: The effect of surface friction is to “back” (move in anticlockwise direction)

the surface wind compared with the direction of geostrophic wind.

The influence of friction is significant upto about 1.5 km above the

ground which is known as Ekman Layer.
Surface wind

• The surface wind represents a balance between the pressure

gradient force and friction parallel to the air motion and between
the pressure gradient force and the coriolis force perpendicular to
the air motion.

Cyclostrophic wind (Eulerian Wind)

• The wind which blow parallel to curved isobar under the balance of
centrifugal force and pressure gradient force is called
Cyclostrophic wind.

Centrifugal force = C2/r

Where, C = wind speed; r = radius

• Cyclostrophic flow can be cyclonic or anticyclonic around a low

• However the cyclostrophic flow does not exist around a high since
there is no balance between the forces around a high

• Examples of cyclostrophic wind are Dust Devil, Tornadoes, Water

spouts and hurricane etc. This is also known as Eulerian Wind.

Thermal Wind

• The vertical shear of geostrophic wind is related to the horizontal

temperature gradient

• The wind that blow parallel to the isotherm keeping low

temperature towards left and high towards right in northern
hemisphere under the balance of pressure gradient force and coriolis
force.
Behaviour of Thermal Wind

i. If low temperature are associated with high pressure, wind

decreases with height

ii. If low temperature are associated with low pressure, wind

increases with height

iii. If wind blows from low temperature to high temperature, it will

“back” (turn to anticlockwise direction) with height

iv. If winds blow from high temperature to low temperature, it will

“Veer” (turn to clockwise direction) with height.

In low/cyclone, the geostrophic wind is an over estimate the gradient

wind and in anticyclone, the geostrophic wind is an underestimate of
the gradient wind.
General Circulation

• For all the season, there is an excess of net radiation over the tropics
and deficit in polar regions

• The exchange of heat from warm equator to cold regions (poles)

results in motion of the atmosphere

• This motion when summarized over earth as a whole is called

General Circulation

• If the earth were a homogeneous surface and if there were not

seasonal changes in the insolation received at various latitudes, the
rotation of earth will cause the wind belts.
• Figure gives a general picture of the terrestrial pressure &wind distribution

• Over large areas the actual pattern differs strongly from this view, a
consequence of both the irregular heating of earth’s surface and the effects
of migratory low and high pressure areas

• Therefore, the actual wind system is much more complicated than the
described in the model.
Wind Distribution

• The horizontal movement of air is known as Wind

• Though the vertical movement is noticed, it is very negligibly small

compared to horizontal movement as the height of atmosphere is only
few kms

• However, the vertical movement or uplift of air only causes for

significant weather changes in terms of cloud formation and rain

• The standard pressure patterns are accompanied by corresponding

wind pattern, which divides into the following zones:

1. Doldrums/Inter Tropical convergence zone

2. Trade wind belts
3. Westerlies
4. Polar Easterlies
Doldrums

• The average location of the doldrums is roughly between 5ºN and 5ºS
where the winds are calm due to convergence of Trade winds from
both the hemisphere

• This is also known as Inter Tropical Convergence Zone.

Trade Winds

• The belt is roughly seen from 5ºN to 30ºN latitude

• The surface flow is equatorward and poleward in the upper

troposphere.

• The trade winds originate due to the pressure gradient from the
subtropical belt of high pressure to the equatorial belt of low pressure.
• Instead of blowing direct from north towards equator, the wind is
deflected due to coriolis force and blows from North easterly direction
in the Northern hemisphere while south easterly in the Southern
Hemisphere and known as Northeasterly trade winds in NH and
Southeasterly trade winds in SH.

• They are known as trade winds because lot of trade was carried from
those belts to equatorial belts through marine transport in ancient
periods

• The trade winds become warm towards equatorwards and having less
water vapour content

• Thus, precipitation is less in that belt and this is the reason why all
tropical deserts of the world are located in this zone
• This zone is popularly known as ‘Horse Latitudes’ where winds are
light and variable like in the case of doldrums

• The wind flow in the upper troposphere is toward pole. These winds
are called Antitrade winds.

Westerlies

• This zone lies between 30º and 60ºN latitude

• These winds while moving into higher latitudes are deflected and
become southwesterly and northwesterly wind in NH & SH
respectively

• They are more variable and intense compared to the trade winds

• While moving towards higher latitudes, westerlies become cold due

to lower temperature and carry high water vapour content.
• Highest precipitation zones in the world are seen in this belt and belt
of cyclones due to westerly disturbances

• It is one of the reasons for winter rains in north-west India

• The western disturbances are popularly known as Nor’westers in

India.

Polar Easterlies

• The polar easterlies are those winds which move out of the polar
highs towards subpolar low pressure belt

• The polar high pressure belt is due to thermal low in the polar region

• Very little is known about atmospheric motions in the Polar Regions.

Atmospheric Pressure

• Pressure is defined as the force per unit area

• The atmospheric pressure is defined as weight of the air column

per unit area above the earth surface, extending to the limits of the
atmosphere

• In case of atmosphere, this force is determined by the number and

speed of the molecules which strike the given surface, usually
taken as square centimeter or square meter

• Normally when air pressure increases, more molecules are present

in a given volume; when air pressure decreases fewer molecules
are presents.
1 bar=106 dynes/cm2

1mb=10-3 bar=103 dynes/cm2

1 Pascal (Pa) = 1 N/m2 =10 dynes/ cm2 =1 kg/m/sec2

1mb=102 Pa=1 hPa =103 dynes/cm2 = 0.750 mmHg

1 mmHg =133.3 Pa

1mb=1 gm/cm2

One standard atmosphere (atm) = 1,01,325 Pa =1013.25 hPa=1013.25

mb= 760 mmHg
• The standard atmospheric pressure at mean sea level and latitude of
45º at a temperature of 0ºC is 760 mmHg

• This is equivalent to 1013.25 mb or 101.325 kilo Pa (kPa). It is also

called one atmosphere (45ºN Paris, France).

• At sea level, pressure ranges from 960mb to 1050mb with an

average of 1013 mb

• At top of mountain Everest pressure is as low as 300 mb

Buys Ballot’s Law:

• In the NH, an observer stands with his back to the wind;

pressure is lower on his left hand side than on right hand
side, while in SH, the converse is true

• This law implies that in the NH, the winds blow counter
clock wise round a depression and clockwise round the
high; the converse is true in SH

• This is a statement of the direction of geostrophic wind.

Air masses

• An air mass is thick and extensive portion of the atmosphere whose

temperature and humidity characteristics are ≈ homogeneous in a
horizontal direction at different levels

• If the air mass is said to be relatively uniform, there may not be much
changes in the air temperature and humidity near the surface and they
changes very slowly over large areas in terms of 1000 km or more.

• Air masses can be classified based on air temperature and humidity near
the surface of the earth

• If the surface temperature is less, it is known as the cold air mass while
warm air mass if temperature is high

• Sources of cold and warm air masses are polar region and tropics
respectively.
• Cold air mass is known as polar air mass (P) while tropical air mass (T) in
the case of warm air mass based on their geographical origin

• Similarly the maritime and continental air masses are classified based on
humidity

• The humidity is less in case of continental air mass while it is more in case
of maritime air masses

• Combining temperature and humidity based on geographical origin, the

principal air masses are classified into four+four (eight) groups i.e.

i. Continental polar air mass (cP)

ii. Maritime polar air mass (mP)
iii. Continental tropical air mass (cT)
iv. Maritime tropical air mass (mT)
v. Arctic (A)
vi. Antarctic (AA)
vii. Maritime Equatorial (mE)
viii. Maritime Tropical subsiding (mTs)
Fronts

• A front is a zone of sharp changes in temperature between warm and cold

air masses

• Cyclone in the high latitudes i.e. extra tropical regions are born along a
front between warm and cold air masses, which may be blowing in
opposite direction

• There are different types of fronts viz. cold front, warm front, occluded
front and stationary front

i. Cold front: is a front along which the colder air replaces warmer air.
ii. Warm front: is a front along which warmer air replaces colder air.
iii. Occluded front: If a cold front overtakes warm front, it is known as
occluded front. Occluded front is the last stage during the development
of a cyclone.
iv. Stationary front: If one airmass does not replaces the other , known as
stationary front.
Cyclones

• The atmospheric disturbances which involved a closed circulation

about a low pressure centre, anticlockwise in northern hemisphere
& clockwise in southern hemisphere are called cyclone

• Air blows in horizontal and vertical direction

• There is air movement inward towards the centre

• They cause extensive damage to property and life over land and
provide copious rain during cyclonic activity

• They originate and intensify in the tropical oceans

• There are two types of cyclone i.e. tropical and extratropical

cyclones
• They have been given different names in different regions viz.
Hurricanes in Atlantic, Typhoons in western pacific and south china,
cyclone in India and willy-willies in Australia

• The Bay of Bengal is more vulnerable to cyclones and east coast is

affected frequently when compare to the west coast as Arabian sea
is relatively less vulnerable due to low sea surface temperature.
Anticyclone

• Anticyclones play important role in weather phenomena at the

surface of earth and associated with fine weather in which high
pressure are at the centre and spiral air movement is outward in
clockwise direction

• The presence of anticyclone at height of 3Km in atmosphere over

Rajasthan is one of the reasons for low rains during monsoon
season.

• Anticyclones are produced over land areas

• There are two types of anticyclones

• The stationary/warm anticyclones because, they passes warm core

• The travelling anticyclones or cold anticyclones are characterized
by abnormally cold air in the lower troposphere

• These are quick moving, short lived and shallow unlike warm
anticyclones which are stable and slow moving.
Wind Rose

• A wind rose is a graphic tool used by meteorologists to give a concise

view of how wind speed and direction are typically distributed at a
particular location.

• A wind rose is a pictorial representation of wind direction and speed

• It gives an overall idea of the distribution of wind direction and speed

at a given location for a given period of time

• It is very useful tool in wind break and shelterbelt studies so as to

reduce evapotranspiration losses, thereby to increase crop yields

• The wind damage due to high winds can be minimized and crop saved
from mechanical damage in case of wind sensitive crops like banana,
tapioca, drumstick and alike crops in wind prone areas provided
planting is taken up based on wind roses.
Preparation of Wind Roses

• To create a wind rose, average wind direction

and wind speed values are logged at a site, at short
intervals, over a period of time, e.g. 1 week, 1 month, or
longer

• The collected wind data is then sorted by wind direction so

that the percentage of time that the wind was blowing from
each direction can be determined.

• The length of the line converging towards central circle in

each of the eight directions indicates the proportion of wind
• The figure in the circle gives the number of cases or
percentage in which air was calm.

Fig: Wind rose

Tertiary Circulation (Local Winds)

• These are local and regional circulation patterns caused by local

variations in the land topography and land-sea surface contrasts

• Land and sea breezes and mountain and valley breezes are some of
the local winds well known

• Hot winds like Foehn, Chinook, Santa Ana, Sirocco etc as well as
cold winds like Mistral, Bora, and Blizzard etc occur in different
parts of the globe.
Sea Breeze and Land Breeze

• The diurnal range of surface air temperature is less in coastal

location when compared to inlands

• The sea breeze during day time and land breeze in night are
common phenomena in summer along the coastal regions

• The sea breeze develops along the sea coast or large inland
water bodies in summer when land heats up much faster than the
water on a clear day and a pressure gradient is directed from
high over the water to a low over the land

• It begins offshore in the late morning hours and gradually

extends inland to decrease afternoon temperatures

• It subsides in the evening

• Because of the sea breeze, areas on the immediate coast may have
lower temperatures than a few kilometers inland. A reversal of sea
breeze may occur in nights, which is known as land breeze.
Valley (Anabatic) and Mountain (Katabatic) Breezes

• These are diurnal wind systems

• During day time, the mountain slopes heat up rapidly because of

intense radiation

• The heated air being lighter raises along the slopes cause a low
pressure area

• The coolar air from the valley regions moves towards the
mountain region causing valley breeze (Anabatic winds)

• During night time, the reverse happens

• The mountain slopes cool rapidly due to radiation loss as a result

of which the cold air drains into the valley regions causing
mountain breeze (Katabatic winds)
• Valley breezes are more intense and persistent as compared to
mountain breezes.

• Hot local winds are caused by advection of hot air from a warm
source region

• Similarly, cold local winds are caused by advection of cold air over a
relatively warm region.

Example: Foehn or Fohn - Alpine Europe, Chinook - Rocky

Mountains
Centrifugal Force

• It is defined as "the apparent force that is felt by an object

moving in a curved path that acts outwardly away from the
center of rotation”.

Centripetal force

• It is defined as, "the force that is necessary to keep an object

moving in a curved path and that is directed inward toward the
center of rotation”.

Frictional Force

• It is a self generating force, which operates as soon as air begins

to move. There are two types of frictional forces.
i. Surface Friction

• This acts at the surface when air blows over it and is dependent on the
value of coefficient of friction between surface and air

• This depends on surface inhomogenity

• The role of this force is to retard/reduce wind speed.

ii. Viscous Friction

• This friction is arising when a layer of air moves over another surface

• This depends on viscosity of air

• This force of friction is important only for air motion in microlayer

called earth’s boundary layer

• For large scale wind system, it is negligible

Gravity

• Force of gravity always acts downward on a parcel of air

• It plays an important role in vertical motion of air

• It has no influence on horizontal movement of air

Thank You