Geopotential Height vs 500-1000 thickness.
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Any chance of adding 500-1000 thickness? I understand that one. The Geopotential Height confuses me. Are they similar? If so, how can I look at the GH map and deduce 500-1000 thickness? I've read articles on the subject and it's not clicking in my brain.
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Hi @toddmpeterson, thank you very much for the suggestion. We appreciate the idea. At the moment, however, we are not planning to add a dedicated 500–1000 thickness layer.
Geopotential height and thickness are related, but they are not the same thing.
Geopotential height shows roughly the altitude of a specific pressure level, for example, how high the 500 hPa surface is above sea level.
Thickness, on the other hand, represents the vertical distance between two pressure levels, for example, between 1000 hPa and 500 hPa, and is therefore a proxy for the average temperature of that atmospheric layer. A larger distance between the levels generally indicates warmer air, while a smaller distance indicates colder air. Strong gradients in thickness usually correspond to strong temperature contrasts and often mark frontal zones.
You can derive a 500–1000 thickness by subtracting the geopotential height of the 1000 hPa level from that of the 500 hPa level.
If you let us know what you typically use a 500–1000 thickness for, we may be able to suggest another parameter that could serve a similar purpose.
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@Jari-Sochorová I don't NEED it, I just like to look at it and see the correlation between it and weather patterns.
Your explanation was definitely more understandable, for me at least, than other articles I have read.
Thank you, Todd
