inertial flow

inertial flow

[i′nər·shəl ′flō] (fluid mechanics) Flow in which no external forces are exerted on a fluid. (geophysics) Frictionless flow in a geopotential surface in which there is no pressure gradient; the centrifugal and Coriolis accelerations must therefore be equal and opposite, and the constant inertial wind speed Vi is given by Vi = fR, where f is the Coriolis parameter and R the radius of curvature of the path.