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Section 5.3 Coriolis force

The Coriolis force is an acceleration produced by the Earth's rotation:

  • produces a right-hand turn in Northern Hemisphere

  • produces a left-hand turn in Southern Hemisphere

This is also the source of how we describe cyclonic rotation (counter-clockwise around a low) and anticyclonic rotation (clockwise around a high)

\begin{equation*} CF = 2fV \end{equation*}

where \(V\) is the wind speed and \(f=2\Omega sin \phi\text{;}\) the Coriolis force increases with wind speed and increases with increasing latitude.