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Potential Temperature
The potential temperature (Ø) of an air parcel is the temperature is defined as the temperature that an air parcel would have if it were expanded or compressed adiabatically from its existing pressure and temperature to a standard pressure p0 (generally 1000hPa). The equation for potential temperature, and the rearranged equation for temperature is as follows:
Potential temperature Ø is conserved for adiabatic processes. The equation for Ø is called poisson's equation. In atmospheric thermodynamics potential temperature is an extremely useful tool, as atmospheric processes are often close to adiabatic, so Ø therefore remains essentially constant, like density in an incompressible fluid.
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