Hydrostatic Balance: Forces Acting in Vertical & Horizontal Directions

[sarahsbs]

What are the forces acting on an air parcel in the vertical direction?

What about geostophically in the horizontal direction?

How can I sketch these forces?

thanks

 

[Astronuc]

Well what affects any mass on a planet?

Gravity is one obvious answer. What's another force related to difference in density?

How about pressure differences? But what causes pressure differences?

Geostrophically speaking -

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/geos.rxml

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gl)/guides/mtr/fw/grad.rxml