beta-plane

The derivative of the Coriolis parameter with respect to latitude.

The beta-plane approximation, useful for the study of equatorial and midlatitude flow, assumes that the Coriolis parameter varies linearly with latitude. Explicitly, the Coriolis parameter is given approximately by

in which y is the meridional distance from some fixed latitude where the Coriolis parameter is f₀ and β (from which the beta plane gets its name) is the meridional gradient of f at that fixed latitude.

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