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:
“Perhaps if the future existed, concretely and individually, as something that could be discerned by a better brain, the past would not be so seductive: its demands would be balanced by those of the future. Persons might then straddle the middle stretch of the seesaw when considering this or that object. It might be fun.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Water doesn’t flow if it’s level, and people won’t complain if you treat them on the level.”
—Chinese proverb.