Secondary circulation
In fluid dynamics, a secondary circulation is a weak circulation that plays a key maintenance role in sustaining a stronger primary circulation that contains most of the kinetic energy and inertia of a flow.[1] For example, a tropical cyclone's primary winds are tangential (horizontally swirling), but their evolution and maintenance against friction involves an in-up-out flow that is important to its clouds and rain. On a planetary scale, Earth's winds are mostly east-west or zonal, but that flow is maintained against friction by the Coriolis force acting on a small north-south or meridional secondary circulation.
References
- Holton, James R. An introduction to dynamic meteorology. ISBN 9780128093290. OCLC 1124306270.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.