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ATS 351 - Lecture 4Water in the Atmosphere
Water is very important!Hydrologic Cycle
Properties of Water• Physical States
– Gas (Water Vapor)• Molecules move freely and
mix well with other molecules
– Liquid• Molecules are close
together and constantly bump one another
– Solid• In ice, molecules are
arranged in a hexagonal crystal
– Only natural substance that occurs naturally in all three states on Earth’s surface
Ice Molecule
Phases of Water• Condensation• Evaporation• Melting• Freezing• Sublimation
– Molecules have enough energy to escape from the surface of ice into air above and directly into the vapor phase
• Deposition– Water vapor molecule
attaches itself to an ice crystal and changes to ice
Evaporation• Water has a very high
surface tension– Takes energy to break the
hydrogen bonds on a water surface in order to evaporate
• What can enhance evaporation from the surface of water?– When temperatures are
increases, molecules move faster (gain energy) and can break the surface tension more easily
– Wind also enhances evaporation
Condensation
• Depends on temperature– For condensation to be really
effective, water vapor needs something to condense onto.
– We call these things in air Condensation Nuclei.
• Dust, smoke, salts, other particles…
• When air is warm and molecules move fast, water vapor may bounce off the Condensation Nuclei.
• When air is cold and molecules move more slowly, water vapor is more likely to stick.– This shows, again, that you are
more likely to have more water in the vapor form in warm air than in cold air.
Saturation• If we evaporate water in a
closed container, eventually the evaporated water vapor will condense back into the liquid.
• The air above the water is said to be saturated with water vapor when the evaporation and condensation rates reach equilibrium.
• With the same number of water vapor molecules in the air, saturation is more likely to occur in cool air than warm air.
So, we have all this really important water vapor in the
air all of the time.
It would be really helpful if we could keep track of it.
Let’s review how we measure water vapor in the
atmosphere.
Absolute Humidity• Absolute humidity tells us the mass
of water vapor in a fixed volume of air - or water vapor density
Absolute Humidity = Mv/ M
• When a volume of air fluctuates, the absolute humidity changes even though the vapor content has remained constant– Therefore, absolute humidity is not
commonly used in atmospheric studies.
Specific Humidity (q)
• When the mass of the water vapor in the parcel is compared with the mass of all air in the parcel (vapor included)
Specific Humidity = rv/ (1 + rv)
• This measurement does not change as a parcel rises and descends.
Zonally Averaged Specific Humidity
Mixing Ratio
• Compares the mass of the water vapor in the parcel to the mass of the remaining dry air.
R = 0.622 e / (P – e)
• Very similar to specific humidity– Uses only dry air, where specific
humidity uses the dry air PLUS the water vapor itself
• Mixing ratio (and specific humidity) stay constant as long as water vapor is not added to or removed from the parcel.
Vapor Pressure (e)
• The air’s moisture content may also be described by measuring the pressure exerted by the water vapor in the air.
• Dalton’s Law– The total pressure exerted by the gases in a
mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each individual component in a gas mixture.
– For 1000 mb of air:• 78% N2 = 780 mb• 21% O2 = 210 mb• 1% H2O(v) = 10 mb ---> actual vapor pressure
– More air = more pressure– Higher vapor pressure = Larger # of water
vapor molecules
Saturation Vapor Pressure (es)
• Recall: when evaporation and condensation are in equilibrium, the air is saturated with water vapor.
• Saturation vapor pressure describes how much water vapor is necessary to make the air saturated at any given temperature.– It is the pressure that that amount of
vapor would exert.
• Saturation vapor pressure depends primarily on the air temperature.– Exponential
relationship
• When water and ice both exist below freezing at the same temperature, the saturation vapor pressure just above water is greater than the saturation vapor pressure over ice.
Relative Humidity (RH)• RH does not indicate the actual
amount of water vapor in the air, but instead tells us how close the air is to becoming saturated
RH = (e/es) * 100
• RH = 100% is saturated air• RH > 100% is supersaturated air
Changing Relative Humidity
• How do we alter a location’s relative humidity?– Change the water vapor content
• Increase w.v. content raise actual vapor pressure relative humidity increases
– Change the air temperature• Increase temperature increase saturation
vapor pressure relative humidity decreases
• Warm = faster molecules = less likely to condense = lower RHReminder: RH = (e/es)*100
Relative Humidity
• Since water vapor content generally does not vary much during an entire day, changing air temperature primarily regulates the daily variation in relative humidity
Dew Point
• Temperature to which air would have to be cooled for saturation to occur (with respect to water).
• It is a good indicator of air’s actual water vapor content– Higher dew point = higher water vapor
content– Adding w.v. to the air increases the
dew point
• Frost point: when dew point is determined with respect to a flat surface of ice
Dew Point & RH• Relative humidity can be
misleading in indicating areas with high water vapor content.
• Dew point is important to look at, along with RH, in order to determine the water vapor content of a location.
• One location has a RH of 100% and a dew point of 0F while a second location has a RH of only 35% but a dew point of 45F– Which location has more water vapor
in the air?• Dry air can have high relative humidity.
July Dew Point Averages
Skew T Diagrams
• Since the advent of rawinsonde observations, thermodynamic diagrams have been used to plot sounding data and to assess atmospheric stability.
• Despite numerous advancements in technology and forecast techniques, the thermodynamic diagram remains an essential tool of today's weather forecaster.
Skew T Diagrams
•Why are skew T diagrams useful?– Forecasting applications:
• Temperature and dew point profile of atmosphere
• Daily maximum temperature• Level of cloud formation• Stable vs. unstable air• Precipitation type (icing forecasting)• Level of tropopause• CAPE (Convective Available Potential
Energy)• Microburst forecasting• And many more…
Isobars (pressure)
Isotherms (temperature)
In Celsius
Dry Adiabats
Saturation Adiabats
Saturation Mixing Ratio
@ 950 mbT=15CTd=0C
Td T
Td T
Finding mixing ratio (w)
Td T
Finding saturationmixing ratio (ws)