The Atmosphere and Ocean E-Book

Neil C. Wells

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: Advancing Weather and Climate Science
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 647

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

The Atmosphere and Ocean

The Atmosphere and Ocean is a fully revised and updated student friendly physical introduction to the atmosphere and ocean. Now in its Third Edition, the book continues to provide students with an accessible description of the atmosphere and ocean with emphasis on their physical properties and interdependence. Clearly structured throughout, the book demonstrates that the atmosphere and ocean are both subject to the influence of the Earth’s rotation and therefore they have a common dynamical basis. The author clearly demonstrates the fundamental differences between the two environments and provides the reader with a much better understanding of the atmosphere and the ocean and an appreciation of their close interactive relationship. There have been many developments in the field over the past ten years and the latest edition of this highly successful textbook brings together new material on the ocean-atmosphere system and climate, the observed circulation of the atmosphere and ocean and radiation in the atmosphere and ocean.

• Fully revised and updated Third Edition of student friendly physical introduction to the atmosphere and ocean.
• Now includes new chapters on observed circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, energy flows in the ocean atmosphere system, modeling the ocean and atmosphere, the ocean atmosphere system and climate.
• Well structured and written in an authoritative yet accessible style suitable for 2nd and 3rd year students taking courses in meteorology, oceanography and related Earth Sciences or as an introduction for graduate students.
• Emphasis placed on physical properties and inter-dependence of the ocean and climate.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Series Foreword

Preface to the Third Edition

Chapter 1: The Earth within the Solar System

1.1 The Sun and its constancy

1.2 Orbital variations in solar radiation

1.3 Radiative equilibrium temperature

1.4 Thermal inertia of the atmosphere

1.5 Albedo

1.6 The topography of the Earth's surface

Chapter 2: Composition and Physical Properties of the Ocean and Atmosphere

2.1 Evolution of the atmosphere and ocean

2.2 Present-day composition of sea water

2.3 Introduction to gases and liquids

2.4 Hydrostatic equilibrium

2.5 Adiabatic changes and potential temperature

2.6 Vertical stability of the ocean and atmosphere

Chapter 3: Radiation, Temperature and Stability

3.1 Vertical variation of atmospheric constituents

3.2 The attenuation of solar radiation

3.3 Absorption of planetary radiation

3.4 Vertical temperature profile and its relation to radiation

3.5 The absorption of solar radiation in the ocean

3.6 Diurnal and seasonal temperature cycles in the ocean

Chapter 4: Water in the Atmosphere

4.1 Introduction

4.2 The moist atmosphere

4.3 Measurement and observation of water vapour

4.4 Stability in a moist atmosphere

4.5 Processes of precipitation and evaporation: The formation of clouds

4.6 Macroscopic processes in cloud formation

Chapter 5: Global Budgets of Heat, Water and Salt

5.1 The measurement of heat budgets at the surface

5.2 Observations of surface heat fluxes and budgets

5.3 The measurement of the water budget

5.4 Observations of the water budget

5.5 The salt budget of the ocean

5.6 Temperature and salinity relationships in the ocean

5.7 Tracers in the ocean

Chapter 6: Observations of Winds and Currents

6.1 Measurement of winds and currents

6.2 Scales of motion in the atmosphere and ocean

6.3 Time averaged circulation

6.4 Time-dependent motion

Chapter 7: The Influence of the Earth's Rotation on Fluid Motion

7.1 An introduction to the Earth's rotation

7.2 Inertial motion

7.3 Pressure gradients and geostrophic motion

7.4 Vorticity and circulation

7.5 The atmosphere and ocean boundary layers

7.6 Equatorial winds and currents

Chapter 8: Waves and Tides

8.1 The spectrum of surface waves

8.2 Wind waves and swell

8.3 Long waves

8.4 Internal waves

8.5 Ocean tides

8.6 Storm surges

8.7 Atmospheric waves and tides

Chapter 9: Energy Transfer in the Ocean-Atmosphere System

9.1 Modes of energy in the ocean–atmosphere system

9.2 The kinetic energy of the atmosphere and ocean

9.3 Mechanisms of kinetic energy transfer

9.4 General circulation of the atmosphere

9.5 General circulation of the ocean

Chapter 10: Mathematical Modelling of the Ocean and Atmosphere

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Scientific modelling: A simple model of the surface layer of the ocean

10.3 A dynamical model of the ocean surface layer

10.4 Numerical solutions of mathematical models

10.5 Numerical solutions for momentum on a rotating Earth

10.6 Atmospheric and climate general circulation models

10.7 Global ocean models

10.8 Observations of the ocean and atmosphere

Chapter 11: Atmosphere-Ocean Interaction

11.1 Air-sea interaction: An introduction

11.2 Seasonal anomalies of the ocean-land-atmosphere system

11.3 Interannual fluctuations in the ocean-atmosphere system

11.4 Decadal variations in the ocean-atmosphere system

Chapter 12: Climate Change

12.1 Past climate observations

12.2 Mechanisms of climate change

12.3 Current climate change

12.4 Understanding recent climate change

12.5 Predicting future climate

Problems

Glossary

General Reading

Further Reading and References

Figure Sources

Appendices

A Standard International (SI) Units

B SI Unit Prefixes

Index

Colour plate

This edition first published 2012

© 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wells, Neil.

The atmosphere and ocean : a physical introduction / Neil Wells.—3rd ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-69469-5 (cloth)—ISBN 978-0-470-69468-8 (pbk.)

1. Atmospheric physics. 2. Oceanography. I. Title.

QC861.3.W45 2011

551.5–dc23

2011016838

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This book is published in the following electronic formats: ePDF 9781119994596; Wiley Online Library 9781119994589; ePub 9781119979845; Mobi 9781119979852

Series Foreword

Advances in Weather and Climate

Meteorology is a rapidly moving science. New developments in weather forecasting, climate science and observing techniques are happening all the time, as shown by the wealth of papers published in the various meteorological journals. Often these developments take many years to make it into academic textbooks, by which time the science itself has moved on. At the same time, the underpinning principles of atmospheric science are well understood but could be brought up to date in the light of the ever increasing volume of new and exciting observations and the underlying patterns of climate change that may affect so many aspects of weather and the climate system.

In this series, the Royal Meteorological Society, in conjunction with Wiley-Blackwell, is aiming to bring together both the underpinning principles and new developments in the science into a unified set of books suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate study as well as being a useful resource for the professional meteorologist or Earth system scientist. New developments in weather and climate sciences will be described together with a comprehensive survey of the underpinning principles, thoroughly updated for the 21st century. The series will build into a comprehensive teaching resource for the growing number of courses in weather and climate science at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Series Editors

Peter Inness, University of Reading, UK

William Beasley, University of Oklahoma, USA

Preface to the Third Edition

The third edition of The Atmosphere and Ocean is a major revision of the material in previous editions to reflect the very significant changes in the subject. In particular chapters on mathematical modelling and climate change have been added to the new edition. Furthermore, problems and their solutions have been provided for each chapter, which some readers may find useful.

The book is not an exhaustive account of the subject but reflects my interests over the last 40 years in teaching and research of the ocean and atmosphere. I hope it may continue to instil enthusiasm and fascination for a subject which continues to challenge humankind in the 21st century.

I wish to thank the following people: Kate Davis for the drafting and improvement of the figures, Helen Wells for suggesting improvements to the earlier chapters, and Jenny Wells for careful checking of the final manuscript.

Finally I would like to thank the team at John Wiley, both in Chichester, U.K. and Singapore, who have provided a high level of professional support during the development and the production of this edition.

Chapter 2

Composition and Physical Properties of the Ocean and Atmosphere

2.1 Evolution of the atmosphere and ocean

Direct evidence of the form and composition of the early Earth have long since been destroyed and clues can only be gleaned from an understanding of geochemical processes. Various radioactive elements can be used to evaluate the timing of the development of the atmosphere and understanding of the behaviour of certain elements allows estimation of the atmospheric and oceanic composition through time.

The Earth and other planets were formed some years ago (4.6 Ga) via an accretionary process involving collisions between cosmic dust through to bombardment of planetismals by meteorites, eventually resulting in the solar system we know today. This accretion is inferred to have continued for some 150 million years and the extensive bombardment of the young Earth continued until at least 3.8 Ga before present.

The accepted paradigm for oceanic evolution involves precipitation from a transitory steam atmosphere created by the continued impact and heating of the proto-Earth surface during planetary accretion. The ocean precipitated out as the Earth cooled and has remained liquid throughout the intervening geological time. This has allowed development of life on Earth and puts lower limits on any climatic variations inferred to have taken place, since the oceans have never frozen completely. Upper constraints to surface temperatures and atmospheric structure are imposed by the presence of a large hydrosphere on Earth. The present day vertical atmospheric temperature structure means that water vapour precipitates in the upper troposphere and the concentration of water vapour in the stratosphere is very low. This retains water within the lower atmosphere and limits the passage of H2O to the upper atmosphere, where extensive photodissociation would occur and the H2 evolved would escape into space due to its low molecular mass.

Comparison of the rare, inert gas composition of the atmosphere with that of the Sun and average solar system abundancies demonstrates that the Earth lost its primordial atmosphere during the accretionary process, which involved heating and melting of the new planetary mass. The current atmosphere formed as a consequence of degassing of the cooling planet Earth once accretion ceased. Again, rare gas composition can be used to determine the timing of the atmospheric development; 80–85% of the present day rare gas content degassed from the Earth's interior in the first million years of Earth's history, whilst the remainder has leaked constantly out during the intervening eons.

Volcanism is the major route of degassing of volatile material from the inner Earth. Present day volcanic activity produces H2O, CO2, SO2, N2, H2 and Cl2 in substantial quantities. The composition of early volcanic gases is a matter of debate and there may have been a substantial component of and depending on the extent of oxidation of source rocks in the upper mantle.

The early solar system was illuminated by a weak, young Sun that only delivered ∼75% of the present day energy to the Earth's surface. To provide a non-frozen ocean there must have been an increased ‘greenhouse’ effect provided by CO2. One-dimensional climate models require CO2 levels of 500 times present atmospheric levels (PAL) at 2.75 Ga. However, recent estimates of atmospheric CO2 levels from study of ancient soils (palaeosoils) suggest upper limits on Archaen partial pressure of CO2 of 100 PAL. The additional planetary warming must be derived from other greenhouse gases such as and or albedo variations. The same palaeosoil samples allow estimation of the early atmospheric O2 content as being approximately PAL. This O2 was mainly derived from the photodissociation of H2O in the upper atmosphere.

The behaviour of CO2 is crucial to our understanding of early Earth history. Early levels were elevated and, by the Cambrian era (∼600 Ma), CO2 levels were close to PAL. The main reason for the extraction of CO2 out of the atmosphere was the development of life forms in the ocean that sequestered carbon in organic and later inorganic (calcium carbonate) forms and buried it in sedimentary formations on the sea floor. Life must have originated as the planetary bombardment slowed after 3.8 Ga and the oldest known fossils are blue-green algae dated 3.5 Ga. The precursors to these organisms were almost certainly high temperature ( >70°C) chemosynthetic archaea living in specialized niches such as submarine hydrothermal vent systems in areas of underwater volcanic activity.

Photosynthesis involves the oxidation of liquid water and the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrate and the release of oxygen;

The reverse of this process is respiration which is carried out by all life forms. There is extensive evidence from palaeosoils and Fe-rich sedimentary formations that atmospheric O2 levels did not achieve appreciable levels until 2 Ga and only approached present-day levels by 1.5 Ga. Until then, all O2 produced was consumed in the oceans by respiration and reduction by dissolved chemical species such as Fe(II). Once O2 started to accumulate in the atmosphere, the production of ozone (