Constrained work output of the moist atmospheric heat engine in a warming climate

Laliberté, Frédéric; Zika, Jan D.; Mudryk, Lawrence; Kushner, Paul J.; Kjellsson, Joakim; Döös, Kristofer

doi:10.1126/science.1257103

Cited by 81 publications

(143 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

130

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…(10) relative to dry air: hence, when the relative dry air content diminishes this term is negative. For details see p. 8 in the Supplementary Materials of Laliberté et al (2015). 4 This assumption corresponds to an instantaneous removal of the non-gaseous water from the atmosphere by precipitation.…”

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laliberté et al (2015) neglected, as we do, the atmospheric liquid and solid water content 4 and approximated q T = q v , where q v is the mass fraction of water vapor.…”

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(10) ). Laliberté et al (2015) first calculated the mass integral of T ds/dt from the right-hand side of Eq. (10), then calculated µdq T /dt from atmospheric data and then used the obtained values and again Eq.…”

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(10) over atmospheric mass, Laliberté et al (2015) assumed that the enthalpy term vanishes, M (dh/dt)dM = 0. This assumption was justified by noting that the atmosphere is approximately in a steady state.…”

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Section 3 we show how the derived relationships require a revision of the recent estimates of atmospheric wind power proposed by Laliberté et al (2015). In Section 4 we discuss how the global wind power in a hydrostatic atmosphere can be represented as a sum of three distinct physical components.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Quantifying the global atmospheric power budget

Makarieva

Gorshkov

Nefiodov

et al. 2016

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Starting from the definition of mechanical work for an ideal gas, we present a novel derivation linking global wind power to measurable atmospheric parameters. The resulting expression distinguishes three components: the kinetic power associated with horizontal motion, the kinetic power associated with vertical motion and the gravitational power of precipitation. We discuss the caveats associated with integration of material derivatives in the presence of phase transitions and how these affect published analyses of global atmospheric power. Using the MERRA database for the years 2009–2015 (three hourly data on the 1.25° x 1.25° grid at 42 pressure levels) we estimate total atmospheric power at 3.1 W m−2 and kinetic power at 2.6 W m−2. The difference between the two (0.5 W m−2) is about half the independently estimated gravitational power of precipitation (1 W m−2). We explain how this discrepancy arises from the limited spatial and temporal resolution of the database. Our analysis suggests that the total atmospheric power calculated with a spatial resolution of the order of one kilometer (thus capturing the small moist convective eddies) should be around 5 W m−2. We discuss the physical constraints on global atmospheric power and how considering the dynamic effects of water vapor condensation offers new opportunities.

show abstract

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laliberté et al (2015) neglected, as we do, the atmospheric liquid and solid water content 4 and approximated q T = q v , where q v is the mass fraction of water vapor.…”

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Materials Derivative Of Enthalpymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Quantifying the global atmospheric power budget

Makarieva

Gorshkov

Nefiodov

et al. 2016

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Anthropogenic carbon in the ocean—Surface to interior connections

Groeskamp

Lenton

Matear

et al. 2016

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantifying the surface to interior transport of anthropogenic carbon (C A ) is critical for projecting future carbon uptake and for improved understanding of the role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle. Here we develop and apply a diagnostic tool that provides a volumetric stream function in (C A , 0 ) coordinates to calculate the total diapycnal C A transport in the ocean, where 0 is the surface referenced potential density anomaly. We combine this with air-sea fluxes of C A to infer the internal ocean mixing of C A to obtain a closed globally integrated budget analyses of the ocean's C A transport. This diagnostic separates the contribution from the mean flow, seasonal cycles, trend, surface fluxes, and mixing in the distribution and the accumulation of C A in the ocean. We find that the redistribution of C A from the surface to the interior of the ocean is due to an interplay between circulation and mixing. The circulation component is dominated by the mean flow; however, effects due to seasonal cycles are significant for the C A redistribution. The two most important pathways for C A subduction are through the transformation of thermocline water (TW) into subantarctic mode water and by transformation of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) into lighter Antarctic Intermediate Water. The results suggest that an accurate representation of intermediate and mode water formation, deep water formation, and spatial and temporal distribution of ocean mixing in ocean models is essential to simulate and project the oceanic uptake of C A .

show abstract

Eddies reduce denitrification and compress habitats in the Arabian Sea

Lachkar

Smith

Lévy

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The combination of high biological production and weak oceanic ventilation in regions, such as the northern Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific and Atlantic, cause large‐scale oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) that profoundly affect marine habitats and alter key biogeochemical cycles. Here we investigate the effects of eddies on the Arabian Sea OMZ—the world's thickest—using a suite of regional model simulations with increasing horizontal resolution. We find that isopycnal eddy transport of oxygen to the OMZ region limits the extent of suboxia so reducing denitrification, increasing the supply of nitrate to the surface, and thereby enhancing biological production. That same enhanced production generates more organic matter in the water column, amplifying oxygen consumption below the euphotic zone, thus increasing the extent of hypoxia. Eddy‐driven ventilation likely plays a similar role in other low‐oxygen regions and thus may be crucial in shaping marine habitats and modulating the large‐scale marine nitrogen cycle.

show abstract

Constrained work output of the moist atmospheric heat engine in a warming climate

Cited by 81 publications

References 33 publications

Quantifying the global atmospheric power budget

Quantifying the global atmospheric power budget

Anthropogenic carbon in the ocean—Surface to interior connections

Eddies reduce denitrification and compress habitats in the Arabian Sea

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About