An Analysis of the Earth’s Energy Budget

Abstract

In this paper we quantify and attribute by inspection the constituent elements of the power intensity radiant flux transmission for the atmosphere of the Earth, as recorded in the following two published sources; Oklahoma Climatological Survey and Kiehl and Trenberth. The purpose of our analysis is to establish the common elements of the approach used in the formulation of these works, and to conduct an assessment of the two approaches by establishing a common format for their comparison. By applying the standard analysis of a geometric infinite series feed-back loop to an equipartition (half up and half down) diabatic distribution used for the atmospheric radiant flux to all elements of the climate model; our analysis establishes the relative roles of radiant and mass-motion carried energy fluxes that are implicitly used by the authors in their respective analyses. Having established the key controls on energy flux within each model, we then conduct for the canonical model a series of "what-if" scenarios to establish the limits of temperature rise that can be achieved for specific variations in the controls used to calculate the global average temperature. Our analysis establishes that, for the current insolation and Bond albedo, the maximum temperature that can be achieved for a thermally radiant opaque atmosphere is a rise to 29°C. This global average temperature is achieved by a total blocking of the surface-to-space atmospheric window. In order to raise the global average atmospheric temperature to the expected value of 36°C for a putative Cretaceous hothouse world, it is therefore necessary to reduce the planetary Bond albedo. The lack of continental icecaps, and the presence of flooded continental shelves with epeiric seas in a global eustatic high stand sea level, is invoked as an explanation to support the modelling concept of a reduced global Bond albedo during the Cretaceous period. The geological evidence for this supposition is mentioned with reference to published sources.

The Application of the Dynamic Atmosphere Energy Transport Climate Model (DAET) to Earth's Semi-Opaque Troposphere

“…7) The justification for including Latent Heat transport, a none radiative process, in the context of opacity blocking is that latent heat release during condensation is a thermal emission activity that takes place over the full depth of the troposphere. 8) The standard process of radiative flux doubling [3] can therefore be applied to all upwelling lit surface fluxes used in the conceptual DAET opacity model. 9) The lit hemisphere atmospheric reservoir therefore receives its flux capacity by the standard process of thermal radiant opacity blocking.…”

“…[1]. Table 1 arranges the numerical elements shown in Figure 1 using the rationale of infinite limit fractional recycling as discussed in [3]. [3] including the elements of the atmospheric recycling process.…”

“…Table 1 arranges the numerical elements shown in Figure 1 using the rationale of infinite limit fractional recycling as discussed in [3]. [3] including the elements of the atmospheric recycling process. Table 2 demonstrates how the global average air temperature (GAT) of 15°C is achieved from the divide-by-4 flux dilution of the standard irradiance model using a process of flux enhancement radiative feedbacks (as shown in Table 1) and surface flux energy losses to generate the required flux to air of 390 W m -2 .…”

“…Unlike the standard model based on the concept of an airless rapidly rotating planet [2], in the new model called "Noonworld" the only mechanism by which captured solar energy can be transferred to the unlit dark side is by the meteorological processes of convection and advection within the atmosphere, rather than by the rapid planetary surface rotation of the standard concept. [3].…”

“…In making this structural change to the DAET model the troposphere is assigned to be opaque to thermal radiation, it then follows that all the remaining solar energy captured by the lit hemisphere will be doubled in the atmospheric reservoir by the opaque radiative recycling process of infinite fractional summation -the halves of halves summation concept of the standard model [3] (Figure 3).…”