3. Atmospheric Pressure
• air pressure - definition
• air pressure and temperature
• pressure gradient force
• Air pressure is, quite literally,Air pressure is, quite literally,
the weight of the atmospherethe weight of the atmosphere
above us.above us.
9. Surface and Upper Air Charts
• isobaric maps
• contour lines
• ridges
• troughs
• Color-filled contour maps are the same as ordinaryColor-filled contour maps are the same as ordinary
contour maps, except that the area between adjacentcontour maps, except that the area between adjacent
lines is filled in with color.lines is filled in with color.
12. Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Newton’s first law: “An object at rest will remain at rest
and an obect in motion will move in a straight line at constant
speed unless acted on by an unbalanced force.”
• Newton’s second law:
• Newton’s third law: “Every action has an equal and
opposite reaction.”
13. Forces that Influence the Wind
• net force and fluid movement
• Wind is the result of a balance of several forces.Wind is the result of a balance of several forces.
14. Pressure Gradient Force
• pressure gradient
• pressure gradient force
• strength and direction of the pressure
gradient force
• TheThe horizontalhorizontal (rather than the vertical) pressure(rather than the vertical) pressure
gradient force is responsible for causing air to movegradient force is responsible for causing air to move horizontallyhorizontally..
16. Coriolis Force
• real and apparent forces
• Coriolis force
• strength and direction of the Coriolis force
• factors that affect the Coriolis force
• It is sometimes claimed that “water swirls down a bathtubIt is sometimes claimed that “water swirls down a bathtub
drain in opposite directions in the northern and southerndrain in opposite directions in the northern and southern
hemispheres”. This is not true.hemispheres”. This is not true.
18. Straight-line Flow Aloft
• combination of the pressure gradient and
Coriolis forces
• geostrophic wind
• Geostrophic winds can beGeostrophic winds can be
observed by watching theobserved by watching the
movement of clouds.movement of clouds.
19. Curved Winds Around Lows and Highs
Aloft
• cyclonic and anticyclonic flow
• centripetal force
• gradient wind
20. Winds on Upper-level Charts
• gradients in contour lines
• meridional and zonal winds
• Height contours on upper-level charts are interpretedHeight contours on upper-level charts are interpreted
in the same way as isobars on surface charts.in the same way as isobars on surface charts.
23. Surface Winds
• planetary boundary layer
• friction
• frictional effects on the wind
• Most people rarely venture out of the planetaryMost people rarely venture out of the planetary
boundary layer.boundary layer.
25. Winds and Vertical Motions
• divergence and convergence
• hydrostatic equilibrium
26. Summary of Atmospheric Forces
“True” forces:
•Gravity
•Pressure Gradient
•Friction
“Ficticious” forces:
•Coriolis force
•Centrifugal force
27. Summary of Atmospheric Force
Balances
Vertical:
•Hydrostatic Balance
Horizontal:
•Geostrophic Balanice
•Gradient Balance
•Ekman Balance
(see Table 6-1 in Ackerman and Knox)
28. Atmospheric Circulations
• Scales of atmospheric motions
• Eddies - big and small
• Local wind systems
• Global winds
• Global wind patterns and the oceans
30. Scales of Atmospheric Motions
• scales of motion
• microscale
• synoptic scale
• planetary scale
• Lots of important weather events occur on microscales,Lots of important weather events occur on microscales,
like evaporation of liquid water molecules from thelike evaporation of liquid water molecules from the
earth’s surface.earth’s surface.
32. Eddies - Big and Small
• eddy
• rotor
• wind shear
• turbulence
• Wind shear can sometimes be observed by watching theWind shear can sometimes be observed by watching the
movement of clouds at different altitudes.movement of clouds at different altitudes.
36. Sea and Land Breezes
• sea breeze
• land breeze
• Sea and land breezes alsoSea and land breezes also
occur near the shores of largeoccur near the shores of large
lakes, such as the Greatlakes, such as the Great
Lakes.Lakes.
39. Mountain and Valley Breezes
• valley breeze
• mountain breeze
• The nighttime mountain breeze is sometimes calledThe nighttime mountain breeze is sometimes called
gravity winds or drainage winds, because gravitygravity winds or drainage winds, because gravity
causes the cold air to ‘drain’ downhill.causes the cold air to ‘drain’ downhill.
40. Katabatic Winds
• drainage winds
• bora
• Katabatic winds are quite fierce in parts of Antarctica,Katabatic winds are quite fierce in parts of Antarctica,
with hurricane-force wind speeds.with hurricane-force wind speeds.
41. Chinook Winds
• Chinook winds
• compressional heating
• chinook wall cloud
• In Boulder, Colorado, along the eastern flank of theIn Boulder, Colorado, along the eastern flank of the
Rocky Mountains, chinook winds are so common thatRocky Mountains, chinook winds are so common that
many houses have sliding wooden shutters to protectmany houses have sliding wooden shutters to protect
their windows from windblown debris.their windows from windblown debris.
43. Santa Ana Winds
• Santa Ana wind
• compressional heating
• wildfires
• Many Southern CaliforniaMany Southern California
residents regularly hoseresidents regularly hose
downdown
their roofs to prevent firestheir roofs to prevent fires
during Santa Ana windduring Santa Ana wind
season.season.
46. General Circulation of the
Atmosphere
• cause: unequal heating of the earth’s surface
• effect: atmospheric heat transport
• Ocean currents also transport heat from the equator toOcean currents also transport heat from the equator to
the poles and back.the poles and back.
47. Single-cell Model
• basic assumptions
• Hadley cell
• why the single-cell model is wrong
• One of the world’sOne of the world’s
premier atmosphericpremier atmospheric
science researchscience research
facilities,the Hadleyfacilities,the Hadley
Centre for ClimateCentre for Climate
Research, isResearch, is
named afternamed after
George Hadley.George Hadley.
48. Three-cell Model
• model for a rotating earth
• Hadley cell
• doldrums
• subtropical highs
• trade winds
• intertropical convergence
zone
• westerlies
• polar front
• polar easterlies
• Many global circulation terms,Many global circulation terms,
including ‘trade winds’ andincluding ‘trade winds’ and
‘doldrums’, were named by‘doldrums’, were named by
mariners who were well acquaintedmariners who were well acquainted
with wind patterns.with wind patterns.
50. Average Surface Winds and
Pressure: The Real World
• semipermanent highs and lows
• Bermuda high & Pacific high
• Icelandic low & Aleutian low
• Siberian high
• The Bermuda High frequently brings hot, muggyThe Bermuda High frequently brings hot, muggy
weather to the eastern US.weather to the eastern US.
53. The General Circulation and
Precipitation Patterns
• major controls
• ITCZ, midlatitude storms, polar front
• Most of the world’sMost of the world’s
thunderstorms are foundthunderstorms are found
along the ITCZ.along the ITCZ.
54. Westerly Winds and the Jet Stream
• jet streams
• subtropical jet stream
• polar front jet stream
56. Winds and Upwelling
• upwelling
• wind flow parallel to the coastline
• Upwelling frequently occurs along theUpwelling frequently occurs along the
coast of California.coast of California.
57. El Niño and the Southern
Oscillation
• El Niño events
• Southern Oscillation
• La Niña
• teleconnections
• ENSO is an example of a global-scale weatherENSO is an example of a global-scale weather
phenomenon.phenomenon.
59. Other Atmosphere-Ocean
Interactions
• North Atlantic Oscillation
• Arctic Oscillation
• Pacific Decadal Oscillation
• Other atmosphere-ocean interactions may very well beOther atmosphere-ocean interactions may very well be
discovered in the coming years.discovered in the coming years.
Editor's Notes
Figure 6.2: (a) Two air columns, each with identical mass, have the same surface air pressure. (b) Because it takes a shorter column of cold air to exert the same surface pressure as a taller column of warm air, as column 1 cools, it must shrink, and as column 2 warms, it must expand. (c) Because at the same level in the atmosphere there is more air above the H in the warm column than above the L in the cold column, warm air aloft is associated with high pressure and cold air aloft with low pressure. The pressure differences aloft create a force that causes the air to move from a region of higher pressure toward a region of lower pressure. The removal of air from column 2 causes its surface pressure to drop, whereas the addition of air into column 1 causes its surface pressure to rise. (The difference in height between the two columns is greatly exaggerated.)
Watch this Active Figure on ThomsonNow website at www.thomsonedu.com/login.
Figure 6.11: The pressure gradient between point 1 and point 2 is 4 mb per 100 km. The net force directed from higher toward lower pressure is the pressure gradient force.
Figure 6.14: On nonrotating platform A, the thrown ball moves in a straight line. On platform B, which rotates counterclockwise, the ball continues to move in a straight line. However, platform B is rotating while the ball is in flight; thus, to anyone on platform B, the ball appears to deflect to the right of its intended path.
Figure 6.19: An upper-level 500-mb map showing wind direction, as indicated by lines that parallel the wind. Wind speeds are indicated by barbs and flags. (See the blue insert.) Solid gray lines are contours in meters above sea level. Dashed red lines are isotherms in °C.
Fig 7.1
Figure 7.4: A thermal circulation produced by the heating and cooling of the atmosphere near the ground. The H’s and L’s refer to atmospheric pressure. The lines represent surfaces of constant pressure (isobaric surfaces).
Figure 7.5: Development of a sea breeze and a land breeze. (a) At the surface, a sea breeze blows from the water onto the land, whereas (b) the land breeze blows from the land out over the water. Notice that the pressure at the surface changes more rapidly with the sea breeze. This situation indicates a stronger pressure gradient force and higher winds with a sea breeze.
Figure 7.14: A chinook wind can be enhanced when clouds form on the mountain’s windward side. Heat added and moisture lost on the upwind side produce warmer and drier air on the downwind side.
Figure 7.21: The idealized wind and surface-pressure distribution over a uniformly water-covered rotating earth.
Watch this Active Figure on ThomsonNow website at www.thomsonedu.com/login.
Figure 7.22: Average sea-level pressure distribution and surface wind-flow patterns for January (a) and for July (b). The heavy dashed line represents the position of the ITCZ.
Figure 7.32: In diagram (a), under ordinary conditions higher pressure over the southeastern Pacific and lower pressure near Indonesia produce easterly trade winds along the equator. These winds promote upwelling and cooler ocean water in the eastern Pacific, while warmer water prevails in the western Pacific. The trades are part of a circulation (called the Walker circulation) that typically finds rising air and heavy rain over the western Pacific and sinking air and generally dry weather over the eastern Pacific. When the trades are exceptionally strong, water along the equator in the eastern Pacific becomes quite cool. This cool event is called La Niña. During El Niño conditions—diagram (b)—atmospheric pressure decreases over the eastern Pacific and rises over the western Pacific. This change in pressure causes the trades to weaken or reverse direction. This situation enhances the countercurrent that carries warm water from the west over a vast region of the eastern tropical Pacific. The thermocline, which separates the warm water of the upper ocean from the cold water below, changes as the ocean conditions change from non-El Niño to El Niño.