pressure and height lines?

Question

How would the wind blow with respect to the height lines on a constant pressure surface (say 500 mb) if the earth did not rotate?

Could someone explain this to me!!! Thanks in advance!!!

it's for my meterology class...i just can't seem to undestand pressure gradients and height lines..

Answer 1

If the earth was not rotating, the air would flow directly from higher to lower pressure or, in the case of constant pressure surfaces, from higher to lower altitude. The wind would be at 90° to the isobars/contour lines.

Because the earth is rotating, Coriolis affects the movement of the air so it flows more or less parallel to the isobars/contours.

By the way, millibars are no longer used in meteorology, the unit is the hectoPascal (hPa). The figure, however, is the same.

Answer 2

If the earth did not rotate, and coriolis force was removed from the equation (which is what I think your professor is getting at with the question) then the wind from would follow the pressure gradient exactly, or in this case, the height contour gradient. If all the contours on the map went from north to south between a high and low, then the wind would flow directly north to south. The earth's rotation causes the wind to deflect to the right and flow towards high and away from lows. This wouldn't happen if it coriolis force didn't occur. Hopefully that's what you were looking for.

Answer 3

Ok, assuming the Earth did not rotate...

The constant-altitude lines on an isobaric surface would be similar to the same lines on a topographical map, and the closer together the lines were, the faster air would flow away from the regions of the higher altitude, constant-pressure surface. Also, in general, the air would tend to flow in a direction prependicular to those lines.

Answer 4

tell me why u need to know and ill tell you your answer