hasMeanPressureDifference

Diagnose an MDA mean-pressure difference between the boundaries.

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Declaration

 flag = hasMeanPressureDifference()

Returns

• flag scalar logical indicating a resolved MDA boundary-pressure difference

Discussion

Only the mean-density-anomaly (MDA) component can contribute to a horizontally averaged pressure difference between the top and bottom boundaries. The diagnostic evaluates

\[\Delta \bar p_{\mathrm{mda}} = \left|\langle p_{\mathrm{mda,top}}\rangle_{xy} -\langle p_{\mathrm{mda,bottom}}\rangle_{xy}\right|\]

relative to the maximum absolute MDA pressure. It returns true when the relative difference is greater than 1e-5. Transforms without an MDA component return false. Other flow components and common pressure-gauge offsets do not enter the calculation.