Vorticity Equation (AOSC470/600, Prof.

Kleist)

Starting with the notion that we have an expression for the relative vorticity:

∂v ∂u
ζ= −
∂x ∂y

We need to take the x derivative of the meridional momentum equation and y derivative of the
zonal momentum equation (Martin 5.31a and 5.31b) to try and get terms that look like relative
vorticity, i.e.:

∂ # ∂v ∂v ∂v ∂v 1 ∂p &
% + u + v + w + fu = − (
∂x $ ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ρ ∂y '
∂ # ∂u ∂u ∂u ∂u 1 ∂p &
− % + u + v + w − fv = − (
∂y $ ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ρ ∂x '

To compute the derivatives, all of the terms (except d/dt in each) require the use of the product
rule for differentiation (quotient rule for last term of each expression). Doing so results in the
following expanded derivatives of the momentum equations:

)" ∂ ∂v % " ∂u ∂v ∂2 v % " ∂v ∂v ∂2 v % " ∂w ∂v ∂2 v % ,

+$ '+$ + u 2 '+$ +v '+$ +w ' +.
+# ∂x ∂t & # ∂x ∂x ∂x & # ∂x ∂y ∂x∂y & # ∂x ∂z ∂x∂z & .
+ .
+
" ∂u ∂f % 1 ∂2 p 1 ∂p ∂ρ .
$f +u '=− +
+* # ∂x ∂x & ρ ∂x∂y ρ 2 ∂y ∂x .-
)# ∂ ∂u & # ∂u ∂u ∂2u & # ∂v ∂u ∂2u & # ∂w ∂u ∂2 u & ,
+% ( + % + u ( + % + v ( + % + w ( −.
+$ ∂y ∂t ' $ ∂y ∂x ∂x∂y ' $ ∂y ∂y ∂y 2 ' $ ∂y ∂z ∂y∂z ' .
−+ .
+
# ∂v ∂f & 1 ∂2 p 1 ∂p ∂ρ .
% f + v ( = − +
+* $ ∂y ∂y ' ρ ∂x∂y ρ 2 ∂x ∂y .-

We can eliminate the term that involves a zonal derivative of Coriolis, and then combine the two
equations into a single expression (boxes will now be used in grouping terms together):

" ∂ ∂v % " ∂u ∂v ∂2 v % " ∂v ∂v ∂2 v % " ∂w ∂v ∂2 v % " ∂u %

$ '+$ + u 2 '+$ +v '+$ +w '+$ f '
# ∂x ∂t & # ∂x ∂x ∂x & # ∂x ∂y ∂x∂y & # ∂x ∂z ∂x∂z & # ∂x &
" ∂ ∂u % " ∂u ∂u ∂2u % " ∂v ∂u ∂2u % " ∂w ∂u ∂2u % " ∂v ∂f %
−$ ' − $ + u ' − $ + v ' − $ + w ' + $ f + v '
# ∂y ∂t & # ∂y ∂x ∂x∂y & # ∂y ∂y ∂y 2 & # ∂y ∂z ∂y∂z & # ∂y ∂y &
1 ∂2 p 1 ∂p ∂ρ 1 ∂2 p 1 ∂p ∂ρ
=− + 2 + − 2
ρ ∂x∂y ρ ∂y ∂x ρ ∂x∂y ρ ∂x ∂y
We can eliminate the second derivative pressure terms on the RHS (red boxes above). We will
also combine the Eulerian u/v tendency terms (and switch the order of differentiation, green
boxes) and combine the u, v, and w terms (purple) to get:

# ∂ ∂v ∂ ∂u & # ∂2 v ∂2u & # ∂2 v ∂2u & # ∂2 v ∂2 u &

% − ( + u% 2 − (+ v% − 2 ( + w% − (+
$ ∂t ∂x ∂t ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂x∂y ' $ ∂x∂y ∂y ' $ ∂x∂z ∂y∂z '
# ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂v ∂u ∂u ∂v ∂u & # ∂w ∂v ∂w ∂u & # ∂u ∂v & ∂f
% + − − (+% − (+% f + f (+ v
$ ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z ' $ ∂x ∂y ' ∂y
1 # ∂p ∂ρ ∂p ∂ρ &
= 2% − (
ρ $ ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y '

Next, pull out the d/dt in the first term, d/dx in the second term, d/dy in the third term, and d/dz
in the fourth term, and bring out the Coriolis parameter in the term in the second row (blue):

∂ # ∂v ∂u & ∂ # ∂v ∂u & ∂ # ∂v ∂u & ∂ # ∂v ∂u &

% − (+ u % − (+ v % − (+ w % − (+
∂t $ ∂x ∂y ' ∂x $ ∂x ∂y ' ∂y $ ∂x ∂y ' ∂z $ ∂x ∂y '
# ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂v ∂u ∂u ∂v ∂u & # ∂w ∂v ∂w ∂u & # ∂u ∂v & ∂f
% + − − (+% − (+ f % + (+ v
$ ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z ' $ ∂x ∂y ' ∂y
1 # ∂p ∂ρ ∂p ∂ρ &
= 2% − (
ρ $ ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y '

For the first four terms, we will replace (dv/dx-du/dy) with zeta/relative vorticity, and rewrite the
first term of the second row in terms of relative vorticity times divergence:

# ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂v ∂u ∂u ∂v ∂u & # ∂v ∂u &# ∂u ∂v &

% + − − ( = % − (% + (
$ ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂y '$ ∂x ∂y '

To get to:

∂ζ ∂ζ ∂ζ ∂ζ # ∂v ∂u &# ∂u ∂v & # ∂w ∂v ∂w ∂u & # ∂u ∂v & ∂f

+ u + v + w + % − (% + ( + % − (+ f % + (+ v
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z $ ∂x ∂y '$ ∂x ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z ' $ ∂x ∂y ' ∂y
1 # ∂p ∂ρ ∂p ∂ρ &
= 2% − (
ρ $ ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y '

We can define the Lagrangian derivative of Coriolis as:

df ∂f ∂f ∂f ∂f
= +u +v +w
dt ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
But we can take advantage of the fact that the only non-zero term is the term that contains the
meridional derivative and rewrite this as:
 df ∂f
=v
dt ∂y

We combine the Eulerian and advective derivatives for relative vorticity (green and purple) into
the total derviative, and replace the v(df/dy) term, we can condense the previous expression as:

dζ " ∂u ∂v % " ∂w ∂v ∂w ∂u % " ∂u ∂v % df 1 " ∂p ∂ρ ∂p ∂ρ %

+ζ $ + '+$ − '+ f $ + '+ = 2$ − '
dt # ∂x ∂y & # ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z & # ∂x ∂y & dt ρ # ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y &

Combining the relative vorticity and Coriolis into a single total derivative and combining the
terms that contain a multiplication of the divergence:

(
d ζ+ f ) + ζ + f "$ ∂u + ∂v %' + "$ ∂w ∂v − ∂w ∂u %' = 1 "$ ∂p ∂ρ − ∂p ∂ρ %'
dt
( ) # ∂x ∂y & # ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z & ρ # ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y & 2

Finally, we move everything to the RHS to come up with the vorticity equation!

(
d ζ+ f ) = − ζ + f #% ∂u + ∂v &( − #% ∂w ∂v − ∂w ∂u &( + 1 #% ∂p ∂ρ − ∂p ∂ρ &(
dt
( ) $ ∂x ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z ' ρ $ ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y ' 2


This is the vorticity equation in height coordinates (Martin 5.33). This equation states that the
Lagrangian tendency (time rate of change following the flow) of the absolute vorticity consists of
a divergence term (orange), tilting term (green), and solenoid term (yellow). See Martin Figures
5.11, 5.12, and 5.13 for schematic examples.

This same procedure can be repeated to derive a vorticity equation in isobaric (pressure)
coordinates. Starting with:
∂ # ∂v ∂v ∂v ∂v ∂φ &
% + u + v + ω + fu = − (
∂x $ ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂p ∂y '
∂ # ∂u ∂u ∂u ∂u ∂φ &
− % + u + v + ω − fv = − (
∂y $ ∂t ∂x ∂y ∂p ∂x '
Which eventually leads to:
d ζ+ f ( ) = − ζ + f #% ∂u + ∂v &( + #% ∂ω ∂v − ∂ω ∂u &(
dt
( ) $ ∂x ∂y ' $ ∂x ∂p ∂y ∂p '

In isobaric coordinates, we lose the solenoidal term. We can finally rewrite this as the isobaric
vorticity equation:
!
∂ζ ! ∂ζ ! & ∂V )
∂t
( )
= −V ⋅ ∇ ζ + f − ω
∂p
− ζ+ f( )( )
∇ ⋅ V + k̂ ⋅ (
' ∂p
× ∇ω +
*