Energy balance atmospheric

Lohmann, U. and Schwartz, S.E. (2009) in Clouds in the Perturbed Climate System Their Relationship to Energy Balance, Atmospheric Dynamics, and Precipitation (eds J. Heintzenberg and R.J. Charlson), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 531-555. 

Heintzenberg, J. and R. J. Charlson, Eds. (2009) Clouds in the perturbed climate system. Their relationship to energy balance, atmospheric dynamics, and precipitation. MIT Press, Cambridge, U.K., 576 p>p. 

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the collective term for land surface evaporation and plant transpiration, which are difficult to isolate in practice. Transpiration refers to the process in which water is transported through plants and returned to the atmosphere through pores in the leaves called stomata, and is distinct from direct evaporation of intercepted precipitation from leaf surfaces. Some land surface processes and the roles of vegetation in the water and energy balances are illustrated in Fig. 6-5. Due to... 

For the Linde process, a material and energy balance has been produced. If the input is some 3 toimes PVC per hour, some 3,500-4,000 m combustible gas and 700 m /h HCl (STP) is produced. No dioxins or furans are expected to be generated given the reducing atmosphere. 

The role of atmospheric CO2 in the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is transparent to incoming sunlight, but it absorbs and re-emits a significant amount of the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth. This alters Earth s energy balance, raising its average temperature. 

Among the components of our atmosphere, the concentration of carbon dioxide is a mere 325 parts per million (ppm). In other words, 999,675 of every million molecules in the air are not CO2. (Almost all the molecules are N2 or O2.) At such a low concentration, how could CO2 possibly cause a measurable change in the Earth s surface temperature The answer lies in the role that minor atmospheric species play in the global energy balance. 

The preceding calculation of the thermal energy balance of a planet neglected any absorption of radiation by molecules within the atmosphere. Radiation trapping in the infrared by molecules such as CO2 and H20 provides an additional mechanism for raising the surface temperature - the greenhouse effect. The local temperature of a planet can then be enhanced over its black body temperature by the atmosphere. 

Significant economies of computation are possible in systems that consist of a one-dimensional chain of identical reservoirs. Chapter 7 describes such a system in which there is just one dependent variable. An illustrative example is the climate system and the calculation of zonally averaged temperature as a function of latitude in an energy balance climate model. In such a model, the surface temperature depends on the balance among solar radiation absorbed, planetary radiation emitted to space, and the transport of energy between latitudes. I present routines that calculate the absorption and reflection of incident solar radiation and the emission of long-wave planetary radiation. I show how much of the computational work can be avoided in a system like this because each reservoir is coupled only to its adjacent reservoirs. I use the simulation to explore the sensitivity of seasonally varying temperatures to such aspects of the climate system as snow and ice cover, cloud cover, amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and land distribution. 

The role of biomass in the natural carbon cycle is not well understood, and in the light of predictions of a future atmospheric energy balance crisis caused by carbon dioxide accumulation, in turn the result of an exponential increase in the consumption of carbon fuel, the apparent lack of concern by scientists and policy makers is most troubling. Yet there is no other single issue before us in energy supply which will require action long before the worst effects of excess production will be apparent. The only satisfactory model is the action taken by the R D community with respect to the SST in nitric oxide potential and chloro-halocarbon emissions, when it was realised that the stratospheric ozone layer was vulnerable to interference. Almost all other responses to pollution" have been after definitive effects have become apparent. 

Water is among the most important compounds on earth. It is the main constituent of the hydrosphere, which along with the mantle, crust, and the atmosphere are the four components of our planet. It is present everywhere on earth and is essential for sustenance of life. Water also determines climate, weather pattern, and energy balance on earth. It also is one of the most abundant compounds. The mass of all water on earth is l.dxlO i kg and the total volume is about l.dxlO km, which includes 97.20% of salt water of oceans, 2.15% of fresh water in polar ice caps and glaciers, 0.009% in freshwater lakes, 0.008% in saline lakes, 0.62% as ground waters, 0.005% in soil moisture 0.0001% in stream channels and 0.001% as vapors and moisture in the atmosphere. 

Distribution of Energy. During a 3-day period, October 7 to 9,1959, a continuous performance run was made on the deep-basin still for the purpose of computing an energy balance. Each item pertinent to the energy balance was measured, except convection loss to the atmosphere, which was obtained by calculations. The experimentally determined losses were then compared with the corresponding calculated losses. These showed remarkably close agreement. 

On a 24-hour basis, the atmospheric radiation is twice as much as the solar radiation. It is doubtful that the atmospheric radiation contributes to the useful output of the still most, if not all of it, is reradiated to the sky. However, with the methods used to measure radiation for the energy balance, it is necessary to account for radiation from all sources. 

In addition to productivity, plant species composition and abundance affect soil C cycling through tissue chemistry and surface energy balance (i.e., the energy balance between land surface and atmosphere). The latter influences soil... 

Example 1 Application of the total mechanical-energy balance to noncom-pressible-flow systems. Water at 61°F is pumped from a large reservoir into the top of an overhead tank using standard 2-in.-diameter steel pipe (ID = 2.067 in.). The reservoir and the overhead tank are open to the atmosphere, and the difference in vertical elevation between the water surface in the reservoir and the discharge point at the top of the overhead tank is 70 ft. The length of the pipeline... 

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