Weather Physics for Games Continued

 We talked about the only objects within the atmosphere.  They have mass, vector momentum, position, and kinetic energy.  These objects also have thermal energy, and only move with forces.

A force is defined as F=ma.  That's how you measure a force.  However, all the forces have to be accounted for and the mass only accelerates with an unbalanced force.  This is in all computer games.  Game physics is the only haven for physics left in the world.

The main forces for the weather are gravity, buoyancy, spin, etc.

Mainly, we have two armies fighting in the game.  We have the hot, Red Army.  The soldiers are extremely active, always with swords, and they march with 'rain dogs', in a very tight, fast formation.

On the other hand, we have the cold Blue Army.  They are armored Polar Bears, with giant ice spears.  They just lumber along, well spread out, and can absorb any hit.

These two armies would just stay in place without forces.  The Blue Army has gravity.  When they gather, they just have to slide down from the North Pole, walking downhill.  Don't ask them to do any more.

The Red Army is propelled fast by heat and buoyancy.  That starts convection, the most powerful and prevalent mechanism in the atmosphere and seas.  Convection starts when a soldier eats too many beans and starts dancing a lot, and this dancing (thermal) energy starts to spread out the troops.  They have denser troops behind them, and they must shoot ahead.  They form the tropical plumes that are out to kill the cold.

No action happens until the two armies meet.  The Polar Bears start up the rain dogs, and it's a big mess, just ask Vancouver.  Who wins is a matter of attrition, the higher energy (or energy absorption) winning the battle.

The Red Army has some deeper forces, and you can use these for prediction.  The heat energy comes from the oceans, the ocean currents are driven by convection.  The weather people like to think that the wind drives the currents, but that violates a few laws of physics, and we can't have that in the game.

This past week or two, we've had a huge Red Army blast back the Blue Army.  

ps.  I think a huge world Weather Game could silence the warmies.  This is done daily by the weather model people, but they have to keep their traps shut.