Chapter 1: Observations of the climate system

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Chapter 1 Observations of the climate
system Vertical temperature structure of the
atmosphere troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere, thermosphere Lapse Rate Graphs of T
with latitude, height, season Atmospheric
composition Graphs of humidity - lat, height,
season - link to T Composition of oceans - where
is the water found? Structure of oceans - T and
salinity with latitude and depth Cryosphere sea
ice, snow cover Land surface Hydrostatic
balance derivation, relationship to
pressure Clausius Clapeyron relationship
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Chapter 2 Global energy balance Orbital
characteristics eccentricity, obliquity,
longitude of perihelion Flux from the
sun Stefan-Boltzmann law Combined to get
emission temperature of earth Greenhouse effect
- illustrated through a simple slab atmopshere
model Global radiative budget Solar flux per
unit surface area on the earth zenith angle Daily
average insolation as a function of latitude and
month Global maps of Albedo, outgoing LW
radiation, Net radiation -gt Inferred polewards
heat transport Graph of polewards heat transport
by atm and ocean
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Chapter 3 Atmospheric Radiative
transfer Electromagnetic radiation speed,
frequency, wavelength. Spectrum Description of
radiative energy Plancks law of blackbody
radiation and relationship to the
Stefan-Boltzmann law Absorption of SW and LW by
gases How do atoms/molecules interact with
radiation? Translational, rotational,
vibrational, photodissociation, electronic
excitation, photoionization line
broadening Absorption of radiation - simple
theory Lambert-Bouguet-Beer law, optical depth,
mean free path Emission and absorption solution
to the emission/absorption equation (integral
equation of transfer)
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• Radiative equilibrium
• 2 layer slab atmosphere example
• Radiative equilibrium solution - vertical
  temperature profile
• Lapse rate potential temperature, dry and moist
  adiabats, concept of static stability
• Radiative-convective equilibrium
• Heating rates - contributions from various
  greenhouse gases to the radiative and
  radiative-convective balance
• Flux divergence and heating
• Role of clouds in the radiative balance
• Cloud distribution
• Cloud impact on albedo and emissivity -
  dependence on cloud top height and thickness
• Cloud forcing
• Aerosols

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• Chapter 4 Surface energy balance
• Fluxes through the surface LW,SW,Latent,
  Sensible
• Surface energy budget
• Heat storage at the surface comparison between
  atm and ocean/land, penetration depth
• How soil temperature varies during the day
• Radiative heating at the surface
• SW- albedo variations, dependence on zenith
  angle, frequency of radiation, moisture at sfc
• LW-emissivity
• Atmospheric boundary layer
• Mechanical and convective turbulence
• Eddy covariance and SH/LE
• Parameterization of SH/LE dependence of transfer
  coefficient on roughness, vertical stability,
  reference height
• Bowen ratio and equilibrium bowen ratio

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• Diurnal variations of T in boundary layer
• Surface Energy balance
• Values over latitude/land/ocean/earth
• Diurnal variations over land
• Seasonal variations over land - dependence on
  moisture
• Seasonal variations over the ocean
• Annual means over the ocean