Isentropic potential vorticity

On potential-temperature surfaces, $q=({\zeta }_{\theta }+f)/{\sigma }_{\theta }$, where ${\sigma }_{\theta }=-(1/g)\partial p/\partial \theta$ is isentropic mass density. In adiabatic frictionless flow it is materially conserved. Diagnosing a velocity field also requires balance and boundary data.

For an adiabatic, inviscid parcel, reduced isentropic mass thickness requires reduced absolute vertical vorticity; increased mass thickness requires the reverse. A rigid-upper-boundary geometric cartoon with layer depth $H-h_m$ gives an anticyclonic tendency while crossing a mountain in the Northern Hemisphere. Actual isentropes need not behave like a rigid lid. Blocking, meridional displacement, heating and friction must be assessed before applying that cartoon to real terrain.

${\sigma }_{\theta }=-(1/g)\partial p/\partial \theta$ measures mass per horizontal area per unit potential-temperature interval under hydrostatic balance. It is positive in a statically stable atmosphere.

Heating over land often favours a deeper cyclonic thermal low, while cooling favours a shallower anticyclonic thermal high. Diabatic heating and surface friction violate the assumptions of simple parcel PV conservation; a vertical profile is needed for a quantitative statement.

Spatially varying drag has a vorticity tendency beyond simple damping of existing relative vorticity. The cross-gradient term depends on wind direction and the gradient of surface resistance. Increasing roughness on moving from ocean to land does not alone specify a universal cyclonic or anticyclonic sign. Seasonal heating also changes stratification and isentropic mass thickness, so it cannot generally be replaced by adiabatic PV conservation.