The gravitational potential energy per unit mass, including the centrifugal contribution when using the effective gravity of a rotating planet. In a local atmosphere with approximately constant effective gravitational acceleration, up to a constant. Its horizontal gradient on an isobaric surface drives the balanced wind.
Geopotential is a term used in geodesy, meteorology, and various fields of geophysical sciences to describe the potential energy per unit mass of an object due to its position within a gravitational field. The geopotential at a given point in space is a measure of the work done against gravity to move a mass from a reference level (usually sea level) to that point.
New to topics? Read the docs here!