Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
10
50
The Big Bang
10
29
10
25
10
24
10
23
Earth's spin
Sun's annual radiation to earth
Comet impact
World's total fossil fuel resources
Annual marine biomass growth
10
21
10
8
Planetary circulation
Max. atmospheric kinetic energy
World comercial energy production 2000
1 year
Monsoon
Frontal zone
10
7
10
20
World use of energy 1950
World total electricity production 1996
Total US nuclear weapons 1985
Large volcano eruption
Jet stream
Planetary wave
1 month
10 days
10
19
10
6
10
18
Annual exploitable tidal energy
Depression
10
5
Cold front
1 day
10 hours
Cloud cluster
10
17
H Bomb 1964
Hurricane
10
16
10
15
10
14
10
13
10
12
10
11
10
10
10
6
Local winds
10
4
Cumulonimbus
Large thunderstorm
Mesoscale ocean eddy
Large cumulus
1 hour
Local thunderstorm
A Bomb 1945
10
3
10 mins
Tornado
Cumulus cell
One night's street lighting NTC
Lightning flash
Annual human diet
One hamburger
10
2
1
min
Dust devil
10
1
10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
Length scale (m)
10
5
10
6
10
7
Figure 12.1
The relationship between the time and length scales of a range of meteorological
phenomena together with their equivalent kinetic energy (KE) (joules). The equivalent KE values are shown
for some other human and natural phenomena. 'Comet impact' refers to the KT (Cretaceous/Tertiary
event). The Big Bang had an estimated energy equivalent to 10
62
hamburgers!
layer of air to another. These eddies can
be defined by generalized streamlines (i.e.,
resolved fluctuations). They range in size from
a few centimeters (10
-2
m) in diameter above
a heated surface to 1-2m (10
0
m) resulting
from small-scale convection and surface
roughness, and grade into dust devils (10
1
m,
lasting 10
1
-10
2
s) and tornadoes (10
3
m, lasting
10
2
-10
3
s).
2
Turbulent diffusion
. These are apparently
random (i.e., unresolved) fluctuations of
instantaneous velocities having variations of a
second or less.
A SURFACE ENERGY
BUDGETS
We first review the process of energy exchange
between the atmosphere and an unvegetated
surface. The surface energy budget equation,
discussed in Chapter 3D, is usually written as:
Rn
=
H
+
LE
+
G
where
Rn
, the net all-wavelength radiation =
[
S
(1 -
α
)] +
Ln
S
= incoming shortwave radiation,
