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Meteorology (Weather) - Component of Global Winds resulting from Sun Position
Expert: Donald Rosenfeld - 10/30/2009
Question
The longitude experiencing sunrise is, on average, considerably cooler than where solar time is around 2:00 PM. I would think this would set up a significant pressure gradient force that would create a westerly wind component between those latitudes (even though it may be overpowered by other forces). I realize that there are a lot of complexities involved because of variations in latitude, altitude, global winds zones, nature of the surface, etc. Yet, I would think the effect would be significant, (especially at higher latitudes). However, I’ve never come across a discussion of such a thing.
Answer
Hi Terry
What a wonderful question!!
I believe you're right; it would work like a land breeze that goes from the cold land at night to a warmer body of water- but, in this case, sunrise air would be colder than than an area with greater amount of sun heating. I also agree with you that the force would be weak on a comparative basis with other weather factors in play. However, to get a more informed answer, I would suggest you pursue this further through the following link:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Contact/contact.htm
http://www.builditsolar.com/References/SunChartRS.htm#Wind
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