geopotential en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree Pre-Greek der. Proto-Hellenic *gayader. Ancient Greek γαῖᾰ (gaîă)clip. Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-) Ancient Greek γεω- (geō-)der. English geo- Proto-Indo-European *pótis Proto-Italic *potis Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Italic *-ējō Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ēō Proto-Italic *potēō Proto-Italic *potēnts Latin potēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin potentia Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin potentialisder. English potential English geopotential From geo- + potential.
Meanings
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The work that must be done at a given altitude in raising a unit mass from sea level to that altitude against the earth's gravitational field.
It might sound puzzling that the ageostrophic geopotential (or the ageostrophic pressure in z-coordinate) has no impact on the evolution of the vorticity of a quasi-geostrophic disturbance and yet it affects the perturbation kinetic energetics (not globally but locally).
2004, Zhu Xun, Li Xiaofan, Cai Ming, Observation, Theory And Modeling Of Atmospheric Variability, →ISBN, page 13:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| geopotentials | Number=Plur | lexicographic |