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Which relation holds between hydrostatic balance and the thermal wind?

  • A.The thermal wind is an alternative statement of hydrostatic balance applied in the horizontal direction
  • B.They are unrelated
  • C.Hydrostatic balance follows from the thermal wind relation when the horizontal temperature gradient vanishes
  • D.The thermal wind follows from combining it with geostrophic balance

Answer: D

Differentiating the geostrophic relation with respect to pressure and substituting the hydrostatic relation eliminates the geopotential and yields the thermal wind. Both parent relations are therefore required, and the thermal wind fails wherever either fails. The derivation is short and worth performing once, since it makes clear why virtual temperature appears in the result. A single measurement chosen to respond to the one asymmetry beats several that respond to shared behaviour.

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