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A general description of the Earth climate
system and its subcomponents: the
atmosphere, ocean, land surface, ice, and solid earth. |
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Week 1 - Global Energy Balance |
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Atmospheric Composition |
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Planetary Energy Balance |
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Greenhouse Effect |
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Role of Cloud |
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Week 2 - Atmospheric General Circulation |
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Hydrostatic Balance |
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General Circulation in the Troposphere |
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General Circulation in the Stratosphere |
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Jetstreams |
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Week 2-3 - Weather
Air Masses and
Fronts |
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Mid-Latitude Cyclones |
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Tropical Hurrican |
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Every
other year or so the normal winter pattern of a cold polar stratosphere
with a westerly vortex is interrupted in the middle winter. |
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The
polar vortex can completely disappear for a period of a few weeks. |
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During
the sudden warming period, the stratospheric temperatures can rise as much
as 40°K in a few days! |
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The hurricane is characterized by a strong
thermally direct circulation with the rising of warm air near the center of
the storm and the sinking of cooler air outside. |
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Basic
Dynamics |
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From atmospheric winds to oceanic currents |
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Ekman transport |
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Geostrophic Currents |
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Surface
Ocean Circulation: Wind-Driven |
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Subtropicl gyre |
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Boundary current |
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Deep
Ocean Circulation: Density-Driven |
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Thermohaline conveyor belt |
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Currents are in geostropic balance |
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Each gyre includes 4 current components: |
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two
boundary currents: western and eastern |
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two
transverse currents: easteward and westward |
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Western boundary current (jet stream of ocean) |
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the fast, deep, and narrow current moves warm water polarward (transport ~50 Sv or greater) |
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Eastern boundary current |
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the
slow, shallow, and broad current moves cold water equatorward (transport ~
10-15 Sv) |
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Trade wind-driven current |
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the moderately shallow and broad westward current (transport ~ 30
Sv) |
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Westerly-driven current |
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the wider and slower (than the trade wind-driven current) eastward
current |
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Climate
Role |
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Surface
Energy Balance |
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Surface
Water Balance |
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Vegetation (Canopy) |
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Soil
(moisture) |
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Surface ice of any depth is a much more
effective reflector of solar radiation than the underlying surface. |
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Sea ice is a good insulator and allows air
temperature to be very different from that of the seawater under the ice. |
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At present, year-round ice covers 11% of the
land area and 7% of the world ocean. |
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Climate Sensitivity and Feedback |
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Past Climate Change |
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El Nino-Southern Oscillation |
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Ozone Depletion |
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ENSO is a interannual (year-to-year) climate
variability in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. |
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ENSO is found to have profound impacts on global
climate. |
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The NAO is the dominant mode of winter climate
variability in the North Atlantic region ranging from central North America
to Europe and much into Northern Asia. |
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The NAO is a large scale seesaw in atmospheric
mass between the subtropical high and the polar low. |
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The corresponding index varies from year to
year, but also exhibits a tendency to remain in one phase for intervals
lasting several years. |
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Notes