
pot_vort_isobaric
Compute potential vorticity on isobaric levels and a global rectilinear grid.
Available in version 6.3.0 and later.
Prototype
load "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/csm/contributed.ncl" ; This library is automatically loaded ; from NCL V6.2.0 onward. ; No need for user to explicitly load. function pot_vort_isobaric ( p [*] : numeric, u : numeric, v : numeric, t : numeric, lat [*] : numeric, gridType [1] : integer, opt [1] : integer ) return_val [dimsizes(t)] : float or double
Arguments
pArray containing pressure (Pa) levels. Must be 1D (lev)
uArray containing zonal wind components (m/s). Must be 3D (lev,lat,lon) or 4D (time,lev,lat,lon). The array must be ordered south to north.
vArray containing meridional wind components (m/s). Same size and shape as u.
tArray containing temperatures (K). Same size and shape as u.
latLatitudes ordered south to north for the rectilinear grid.
gridTypeGrid type: gridType=0 means gaussian grid; gridType=1 means regular or fixed grid. Both are rectilinear grids.
opt- opt=0: return potential vorticity
- opt=1: return a list variable containing: potential vorticity, static stability, potential temperature
Return value
A multi-dimensional array of the same size and shape as t. The output will be double if t is of type double.
Description
Calculate the potential vorticity on isobaric levels on a global grid. The reason for the global grid is that highly accurate spherical harmonic functions are used to compute horizontal gradients.
References: Bluestein: Synoptic-Dynamic Meteorology in Midlatitudes pg 264 Eq 4.5.93 Note: A nice basic discussion of PV may be found at: Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics: A First Course Jonathan E. Martin, Wiley 2006, QC880.M36 , pp276-onward
See Also
pot_vort_hybrid, static_stability, pot_temp,
Examples
Note: The dimension names are those used by the CESM. NCL does not care what the dimensions are named.
Worked potential vorticity examples are HERE.
Example 1: Here the data are south to north.
f = addfile ("foo.nc", "r") U = f->U ; (time,lev,lat,lon) or (lev,lat,lon) V = f->V T = f->T ; K lat = f->lat lev = f->lev ; hPa lev = lev*100 ; convert units lev@units = "Pa" gridType = 0 ; gaussian grid opt = 0 PV = pot_vort_isobaric(lev,u,v,t,lat, gridType, opt)Example 2 Here the data are ordered north to south. Most reanalysis data sets are ordered north to south. Use NCL syntax to reorder the data.
f = addfile ("foo.nc", "r") U = f->U ; (time,lev,lat,lon) V = f->V T = f->T ; K lev = f->lev ; hPa lev = lev*100 ; convert units lev@units = "Pa" U = U(:,:,::-1,:) ; reorder to South -> North V = V(:,:,::-1,:) T = T(:,:,::-1,:) lat = T&lat gridType = 1 ; fixed grid opt = 0 PV = pot_vort_isobaric(lev,u,v,t,lat, gridType, opt) ; Potential Vorticity