The atmosphere and ocean : a physical introduction

442 Pages·2012·5.717 MB·English

by  Neil Wells

The Atmosphere and Ocean

The Atmosphere and Ocean
A PHYSICAL INTRODUCTION
THIRD EDITION
Neil C. Wells
University of Southampton, UK

A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
Thiseditionfirstpublished2012
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wells,Neil.
Theatmosphereandocean:aphysicalintroduction/NeilWells.–3rded.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-470-69469-5(cloth)–ISBN978-0-470-69468-8(pbk.)
1. Atmosphericphysics. 2. Oceanography. I. Title.

QC861.3.W45 2011
551.5–dc23
2011016838
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Thisbookispublishedinthefollowingelectronicformats:ePDF9781119994596;WileyOnlineLibrary
9781119994589;ePub9781119979845;Mobi9781119979852
Typesetin11/13ptPalatino-RomanbyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India
FirstImpression2012
Contents
SeriesForeword ix
PrefacetotheThirdEdition xi
1 TheEarthwithintheSolarSystem 1
1.1 TheSunanditsconstancy 1
1.2 Orbitalvariationsinsolarradiation 4
1.3 Radiativeequilibriumtemperature 8
1.4 Thermalinertiaoftheatmosphere 10
1.5 Albedo 14
1.6 ThetopographyoftheEarth’ssurface 18
2 CompositionandPhysicalProperties
oftheOceanandAtmosphere 25
2.1 Evolutionoftheatmosphereandocean 25
2.2 Present-daycompositionofseawater 29
2.3 Introductiontogasesandliquids 31
2.4 Hydrostaticequilibrium 39
2.5 Adiabaticchangesandpotentialtemperature 41
2.6 Verticalstabilityoftheoceanandatmosphere 46
3 Radiation,TemperatureandStability 53
3.1 Verticalvariationofatmosphericconstituents 53
3.2 Theattenuationofsolarradiation 58
3.3 Absorptionofplanetaryradiation 65
3.4 Verticaltemperatureprofileanditsrelationtoradiation 67
3.5 Theabsorptionofsolarradiationintheocean 75
3.6 Diurnalandseasonaltemperaturecyclesintheocean 78

4 WaterintheAtmosphere 83
4.1 Introduction 83
4.2 Themoistatmosphere 84
4.3 Measurementandobservationofwatervapour 86
4.4 Stabilityinamoistatmosphere 88
4.5 Processesofprecipitationandevaporation:
Theformationofclouds 94
4.6 Macroscopicprocessesincloudformation 106
vi Contents
5 GlobalBudgetsofHeat,WaterandSalt 111
5.1 Themeasurementofheatbudgetsatthesurface 111
5.2 Observationsofsurfaceheatfluxesandbudgets 117
5.3 Themeasurementofthewaterbudget 126
5.4 Observationsofthewaterbudget 127
5.5 Thesaltbudgetoftheocean 131
5.6 Temperatureandsalinityrelationshipsintheocean 134
5.7 Tracersintheocean 141
6 ObservationsofWindsandCurrents 147
6.1 Measurementofwindsandcurrents 147
6.2 Scalesofmotionintheatmosphereandocean 159
6.3 Timeaveragedcirculation 164
6.4 Time-dependentmotion 175
7 TheInfluenceoftheEarth’sRotationonFluidMotion 181
7.1 AnintroductiontotheEarth’srotation 181
7.2 Inertialmotion 184
7.3 Pressuregradientsandgeostrophicmotion 187
7.4 Vorticityandcirculation 197
7.5 Theatmosphereandoceanboundarylayers 206
7.6 Equatorialwindsandcurrents 210
8 WavesandTides 219
8.1 Thespectrumofsurfacewaves 219
8.2 Windwavesandswell 223
8.3 Longwaves 230
8.4 Internalwaves 234
8.5 Oceantides 237
8.6 Stormsurges 244
8.7 Atmosphericwavesandtides 249
9 EnergyTransferintheOcean-AtmosphereSystem 253
9.1 Modesofenergyintheocean–atmospheresystem 253

9.2 Thekineticenergyoftheatmosphereandocean 259
9.3 Mechanismsofkineticenergytransfer 262
9.4 Generalcirculationoftheatmosphere 271
9.5 Generalcirculationoftheocean 277
10 MathematicalModellingoftheOceanandAtmosphere 283
10.1 Introduction 283
10.2 Scientificmodelling:Asimplemodel
ofthesurfacelayeroftheocean 284
Contents vii
10.3 Adynamicalmodeloftheoceansurfacelayer 288
10.4 Numericalsolutionsofmathematicalmodels 291
10.5 NumericalsolutionsformomentumonarotatingEarth 293
10.6 Atmosphericandclimategeneralcirculationmodels 295
10.7 Globaloceanmodels 301
10.8 Observationsoftheoceanandatmosphere 305
11 Atmosphere-OceanInteraction 315
11.1 Air-seainteraction:Anintroduction 315
11.2 Seasonalanomaliesoftheocean-land-atmospheresystem 322
11.3 Interannualfluctuationsintheocean-atmospheresystem 326
11.4 Decadalvariationsintheocean-atmospheresystem 332
12 ClimateChange 337
12.1 Pastclimateobservations 337
12.2 Mechanismsofclimatechange 341
12.3 Currentclimatechange 346
12.4 Understandingrecentclimatechange 350
12.5 Predictingfutureclimate 351
Problems 353
Glossary 369
GeneralReading 377
FurtherReadingandReferences 379
FigureSources 385
Appendices
A StandardInternational(SI)Units 391
B SIUnitPrefixes 391
Index 393