Contributions of the Hadley and Ferrel Circulations to the Energetics of the Atmosphere over the Past 32 Years*

Abstract

The Hadley system provides an example of a thermally direct circulation; the Ferrel system in contrast provides an example of a thermally indirect circulation. In this study, the authors develop an approach to investigate the key thermodynamic properties of the Hadley and Ferrel systems, quantifying them using assimilated meteorological data covering the period January 1979–December 2010. This analysis offers a fresh perspective on the conversion of energy in the atmosphere from diabatic heating to the production of atmospheric kinetic energy. The results indicate that the thermodynamic efficiency of the Hadley system, considered as a heat engine, has been relatively constant over the 32-yr period covered by the analysis, averaging 2.6%. Over the same interval, the power generated by the Hadley regime has risen at an average rate of about 0.54 TW yr−1; this reflects an increase in energy input to the system consistent with the observed trend in the tropical sea surface temperatures. The Ferrel system acts as a heat pump with a coefficient of performance of 12.1, consuming kinetic energy at an approximate rate of 275 TW and exceeding the power production rate of the Hadley system by 77 TW.

Kinetic energy generation in heat engines and heat pumps: the relationship between surface pressure, temperature and circulation cell size

“…This uncertainty is not, however, restricted to our approach; it also reflects the insufficient quality of the available observations. Indeed, unlike in the NCAR/NCEP data, in the MERRA re-analysis the total meridional kinetic power is negative: W g ¼ À0:06 or À 0:13 W m À2 (Kim and Kim, 2013), which means that in this re-analysis the Ferrel cells consume more kinetic power than the Hadley cells produce (Huang and McElroy, 2014). The pattern common to both MERRA and NCAR/NCEP data sets is that most kinetic energy generated by the meridional heat engines is consumed by the meridional heat pumps.…”

“…In particular, for the Hadley cells and Ferrel cells kinetic energy generation is approximately equal (but of different sign) ( Table 2). The same is true for the circulation power (Huang and McElroy, 2014). This means that characteristic times of air circulation (i.e.…”

“…The Earth's Ferrel cells are heat pumps, while the Hadley and Polar cells are heat engines (see, e.g. Huang and McElroy, 2014).…”

“…The heat engine concept was applied to the atmosphere by many authors attempting to constrain the efficiency of atmospheric circulation (Wulf and Davis, 1952;Peixoto and Oort, 1992;Pauluis et al, 2000;Lorenz and Rennó, 2002;Pauluis, 2011;Huang and McElroy, 2014, 2015bKieu, 2015). However, the relationship between surface pressures and temperatures and the generation of kinetic energy has not been previously established.…”

A Data-Driven Assessment of Biosphere-Atmosphere Interaction Impact on Seasonal Cycle Patterns of XCO2 Using GOSAT and MODIS Observations

“…The larger amplitudes, such as North America and North Eurasia boreal forest regions, correspond to a smaller time delay, suggesting that the strength of vertical mixing is much stronger in these areas, even though the biosphere-atmosphere exchange in these areas is also large. As shown in [64] by Huang et al, the strength of vertical mixing in boreal and arctic regions is not as strong as that in the tropics, which may lead to stronger phase delay effect in high latitude regions. Moreover, XCO 2 has a large footprint, which is supposed to have contributions from different oceanic and land regions.…”