Divergence theorem

From Glossary of Meteorology
Revision as of 15:49, 25 April 2012 by imported>Perlwikibot
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)



divergence theorem

(Also called Gauss's theorem.) The statement that the volume integral of the divergence of a vector, such as the velocity V, over a volume V is equal to the surface integral of the normal component of V over the surface s of the volume (often called the "export" through the closed surface), provided that V and its derivatives are continuous and single-valued throughout V and s.

This may be written
ams2001glos-De37
where n is a unit vector normal to the element of surface ds, and the symbol ∮ ∮S indicates that the integration is to be carried out over a closed surface. This theorem is sometimes called Green's theorem in the plane for the case of two-dimensional flow, and Green's theorem in space for the three-dimensional case described above. The divergence theorem is used extensively in manipulating the meteorological equations of motion.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.