RICHARDSON NUMBER

parameter that can be used to predict the occurrence of fluid turbulence and, hence, the destruction of density currents in water or air. It was defined by the British meteorologist Lewis Fry Richardson, a pioneer in mathematical weather forecasting. Essentially the ratio of the density gradient (the change in density with depth) to the velocity gradient, the Richardson number is defined as in which g is gravity, r is density, u is velocity, and z is depth. The Richardson number, or one of several variants, is of practical importance in weather forecasting and in investigating density and turbidity currents in oceans, lakes, and reservoirs.