In atmospheric science, balanced flow is an idealisation of atmospheric motion. The idealisation consists in considering the behaviour of one isolated parcel of air having constant density, its motion on a horizontal plane subject to selected forces acting on it and, finally, steady-state conditions.
Balanced flow is often an accurate approximation of the actual flow, and is useful in improving the qualitative understanding and interpretation of atmospheric motion. In particular, the balanced-flow speeds can be used as estimates of the wind speed for particular arrangements of the atmospheric pressure on Earth’s surface.
Read more about Balanced Flow: Antitriptic Flow, Geostrophic Flow, Cyclostrophic Flow, Inertial Flow, Gradient Flow, Balanced-flow Speeds Compared
Famous quotes containing the words balanced and/or flow:
“[T]hat moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralize each other, leaving absolute mental liberty. It is then that the plight of being alive becomes attenuated to its least possible dimensions.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“On the idle hill of summer,
Sleepy with the flow of streams,”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)