Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics

by Marshall; Plumb

• ISBN13: 9780125586917
• ISBN10: 0125586914
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-06
• Publisher: Elsevier Science

Summary

For advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in atmospheric, oceanic, and climate science, Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics is an introductory textbook on the circulations of the atmosphere and ocean and their interaction, with an emphasis on global scales. It will give students a good grasp of what the atmosphere and oceans look like on the large-scale and why they look that way. The role of the oceans in climate and paleoclimate is also discussed. The combination of observations, theory and accompanying illustrative laboratory experiments sets this text apart by making it accessible to students with no prior training in meteorology or oceanography. * Written at a mathematical level that is appealing for undergraduates * Provides a useful educational tool via laboratory demonstrations, which can be viewed over the web or on the accompaning CD-ROM * Contains simple and informative experiments

Table of Contents

Outline, scope, and rationale of the book	p. xiii
Preface	p. xiv
Natural fluid dynamics	p. xv
Rotating fluid dynamics: GFD Lab 0	p. xvii
Holicism	p. xix
Characteristics of the atmosphere	p. 1
Geometry	p. 1
Chemical composition of the atmosphere	p. 2
Physical properties of air	p. 4
Dry air	p. 4
Moist air	p. 5
GFD Lab I: Cloud formation on adiabatic expansion	p. 7
Problems	p. 7
The global energy balance	p. 9
Planetary emission temperature	p. 9
The atmospheric absorption spectrum	p. 13
The greenhouse effect	p. 14
A simple greenhouse model	p. 14
A leaky greenhouse	p. 16
A more opaque greenhouse	p. 16
Climate feedbacks	p. 19
Further reading	p. 20
Problems	p. 20
The vertical structure of the atmosphere	p. 23
Vertical distribution of temperature and greenhouse gases	p. 23
Typical temperature profile	p. 23
Atmospheric layers	p. 24
The relationship between pressure and density: hydrostatic balance	p. 26
Vertical structure of pressure and density	p. 28
Isothermal atmosphere	p. 28
Non-isothermal atmosphere	p. 28
Density	p. 29
Further reading	p. 29
Problems	p. 29
Convection	p. 31
The nature of convection	p. 32
Convection in a shallow fluid	p. 32
Instability	p. 33
Convection in water	p. 34
Buoyancy	p. 34
Stability	p. 35
Energetics	p. 36
GFD Lab II: Convection	p. 36
Dry convection in a compressible atmosphere	p. 39
The adiabatic lapse rate (in unsaturated air)	p. 39
Potential temperature	p. 41
The atmosphere under stable conditions	p. 42
Gravity waves	p. 42
Temperature inversions	p. 44
Moist convection	p. 46
Humidity	p. 47
Saturated adiabatic lapse rate	p. 49
Equivalent potential temperature	p. 50
Convection in the atmosphere	p. 50
Types of convection	p. 51
Where does convection occur?	p. 55
Radiative-convective equilibrium	p. 56
Further reading	p. 57
Problems	p. 57
The meridional structure of the atmosphere	p. 61
Radiative forcing and temperature	p. 62
Incoming radiation	p. 62
Outgoing radiation	p. 63
The energy balance of the atmosphere	p. 64
Meridional structure of temperature	p. 64
Pressure and geopotential height	p. 67
Moisture	p. 70
Winds	p. 73
Distribution of winds	p. 74
Further reading	p. 78
Problems	p. 78
The equations of fluid motion	p. 81
Differentiation following the motion	p. 82
Equation of motion for a nonrotating fluid	p. 84
Forces on a fluid parcel	p. 84
The equations of motion	p. 86
Hydrostatic balance	p. 87
Conservation of mass	p. 87
Incompressible flow	p. 88
Compressible flow	p. 88
Thermodynamic equation	p. 89
Integration, boundary conditions, and restrictions in application	p. 89
Equations of motion for a rotating fluid	p. 90
GFD Lab III: Radial inflow	p. 90
Transformation into rotating coordinates	p. 93
The rotating equations of motion	p. 94
GFD Labs IV and V: Experiments with Coriolis forces on a parabolic rotating table	p. 96
Putting things on the sphere	p. 100
GFD Lab VI: An experiment on the Earth's rotation	p. 103
Further reading	p. 104
Problems	p. 104
Balanced flow	p. 109
Geostrophic motion	p. 110
The geostrophic wind in pressure coordinates	p. 112
Highs and lows; synoptic charts	p. 114
Balanced flow in the radial-inflow experiment	p. 116
The Taylor-Proudman theorem	p. 117
GFD Lab VII: Taylor columns	p. 118
The thermal wind equation	p. 119
GFD Lab VIII: The thermal wind relation	p. 120
The thermal wind equation and the Taylor-Proudman theorem	p. 122
GFD Lab IX: cylinder "collapse" under gravity and rotation	p. 123
Mutual adjustment of velocity and pressure	p. 125
Thermal wind in pressure coordinates	p. 126
Sub geostrophic flow: the Ekman layer	p. 129
GFD Lab X: Ekman layers: frictionally-induced cross-isobaric flow	p. 130
Ageostrophic flow in atmospheric highs and lows	p. 130
Planetary-scale ageostrophic flow	p. 133
Problems	p. 135
The general circulation of the atmosphere	p. 139
Understanding the observed circulation	p. 140
A mechanistic view of the circulation	p. 141
The tropical Hadley circulation	p. 142
The extratropical circulation and GFD Lab XI: Baroclinic instability	p. 145
Energetics of the thermal wind equation	p. 149
Potential energy for a fluid system	p. 149
Available potential energy	p. 150
Release of available potential energy in baroclinic instability	p. 152
Energetics in a compressible atmosphere	p. 153
Large-scale atmospheric energy and momentum budget	p. 154
Energy transport	p. 154
Momentum transport	p. 156
Latitudinal variations of climate	p. 157
Further reading	p. 158
Problems	p. 159
The ocean and its circulation	p. 163
Physical characteristics of the ocean	p. 164
The ocean basins	p. 164
The cryosphere	p. 165
Properties of seawater; equation of state	p. 165
Temperature, salinity, and temperature structure	p. 168
The mixed layer and thermocline	p. 171
The observed mean circulation	p. 176
Inferences from geostrophic and hydrostatic balance	p. 182
Ocean surface structure and geostrophic flow	p. 183
Geostrophic flow at depth	p. 184
Steric effects	p. 186
The dynamic method	p. 187
Ocean eddies	p. 188
Observations of ocean eddies	p. 188
Further reading	p. 189
Problems	p. 190
The wind-driven circulation	p. 197
The wind stress and Ekman layers	p. 198
Balance of forces and transport in the Ekman layer	p. 199
Ekman pumping and suction and GFD Lab XII	p. 201
Ekman pumping and suction induced by large-scale wind patterns	p. 203
Response of the interior ocean to Ekman pumping	p. 206
Interior balances	p. 206
Wind-driven gyres and western boundary currents	p. 206
Taylor-Proudman on the sphere	p. 207
GFD Lab XIII: Wind-driven ocean gyres	p. 211
The depth-integrated circulation: Sverdrup theory	p. 213
Rationalization of position, sense of circulation, and volume transport of ocean gyres	p. 214
Effects of stratification and topography	p. 216
Taylor-Proudman in a layered ocean	p. 217
Baroclinic instability in the ocean	p. 218
Further reading	p. 220
Problems	p. 220
The thermohaline circulation of the ocean	p. 223
Air-sea fluxes and surface property distributions	p. 224
Heat, freshwater, and buoyancy fluxes	p. 224
Interpretation of surface temperature distributions	p. 231
Sites of deep convection	p. 232
The observed thermohaline circulation	p. 234
Inferences from interior tracer distributions	p. 234
Time scales and intensity of thermohaline circulation	p. 239
Dynamical models of the thermohaline circulation	p. 239
Abyssal circulation schematic deduced from Taylor-Proudman on the sphere	p. 239
GFD Lab XIV: The abyssal circulation	p. 241
Why western boundary currents?	p. 243
GFD Lab XV: Source sink flow in a rotating basin	p. 245
Observations of abyssal ocean circulation	p. 245
The ocean heat budget and transport	p. 247
Meridional heat transport	p. 248
Mechanisms of ocean heat transport and the partition of heat transport between the atmosphere and ocean	p. 251
Freshwater transport by the ocean	p. 255
Further reading	p. 256
Problems	p. 256
Climate and climate variability	p. 259
The ocean as a buffer of temperature change	p. 261
Nonseasonal changes in SST	p. 262
El Nino and the Southern Oscillation	p. 264
Interannual variability	p. 264
"Normal" conditions-equatorial upwelling and the Walker circulation	p. 266
ENSO	p. 269
Other modes of variability	p. 273
Paleoclimate	p. 273
Climate over Earth history	p. 275
Paleotemperatures over the past 70 million years: the [delta superscript 18] record	p. 277
Greenhouse climates	p. 280
Cold climates	p. 280
Glacial-interglacial cycles	p. 282
Global warming	p. 291
Further reading	p. 292
Problems	p. 292
Appendices	p. 295
Derivations	p. 295
The Planck function	p. 295
Computation of available potential energy	p. 296
Internal energy for a compressible atmosphere	p. 296
Mathematical definitions and notation	p. 296
Taylor expansion	p. 296
Vector identifies	p. 297
Polar and spherical coordinates	p. 298
Use of foraminifera shells in paleoclimate	p. 298
Laboratory experiments	p. 299
Rotating tables	p. 299
List of laboratory experiments	p. 300
Figures and access to data over the web	p. 302
References	p. 303
Textbooks and reviews	p. 303
Other references	p. 303
References to paleo-data sources	p. 304
Index	p. 307
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