Question

what is coriolis acceleration?

Answer 1

from what i understand of the coriolis force/acceleration it is cause becuase the linear velocity of the the earth varies. at the equator the linear velocity is greates and at the poles it is zero (the angular velocity is constant however). now this means that the air at the equator gets a greater resistive froce from the earth (this is to do with air drag aswell as friction which explains why the friction coefficient varies with speed) which therefore gives it a greater acceleration. therefore the air at the equator moves faster than air nearer the poles.this causes a rotational motion in the air (the direction depends on the hemesphere you are in).

hope that has helped

Answer 2

The Coriolis force is a complicated and actually fictitious force that only arises when you are brave enough to work in a non-inertial, rotating reference frame. Which unfortunately is what the earth is - hence it's useful for explaining things like the dynamics of the atmosphere.