Lecture 2: Atmospheric Circulation

Structure of the Atmosphere

- Made up of different layers of air
- Pressure reduces with altitude
Troposphere
- Temperature reduces with altitude at the rate of -6.4 degrees Celsius
- Altitude is 0 to 10km
- Zone that is categorized by dynamic weather pattern
Tropopause
- Thermal condition becomes frigid or stabilizes
- Transition from troposphere to stratosphere
Stratosphere
- Categorized by temperature inversion (temperature increases with
altitude)
- High accumulation of greenhouse gases (e.g. nitrogen oxide, methane,
mercury)
Stratopause
- Temperature condition becomes stable
- Transition from stratosphere to mesosphere
Mesosphere
- Air is exceeding light
- High amount of ice crystals that are formed
Mesopause
- Transition from mesosphere to thermosphere
Thermosphere
- Large amount of gamma rays and X-rays
- As you go higher and enter space, the question becomes why is that when
you go towards the sun it gets cold? Greater degree of ionization

Wind
- Horizontal motion of air that is caused by differential heating and cooling
of the Earth’s surface
- Caused by differences in pressure systems
- Pressure can be measured using a mercury thermometer or aneroid
barometer
- Low pressure systems are caused by warm light air mass
- High pressure systems are caused by cold dense air mass
- Anemometer is used to measure wind speed
- Wind vane is used to measure wind direction

Wind Pattern Development

Pressure gradient force
- Drives air from areas of more dense air to areas of less dense air, causing
winds
 - Cold dense air mass often sinks to the surface and causes outward
movement of air
- Developed by the difference between the cold air mass and warm air
mass
- Vertical air movement can create pressure gradients (air descends from
the upper atmosphere and diverges at the surface or when air converges
at the surface and ascends into the upper atmosphere)
- Strongly subsiding and diverging air is associated with high pressure
- Strongly converging and rising air is associated with low pressure
- Isobar: a line with a constant value plotted on a weather map to connect
points of equal pressure
- Spacing between isobars indicates the intensity of the pressure gradient
o Closer isobars show steepness in the gradient  faster air
movement
Coriolis force
- Occurs when objects that fly are deflected to the right in the northern
hemisphere
- Caused by the rotation of the air
- Earth’s rotation speed varies with latitude
- The faster the wind speed, the greater the deflection
- Does not affect small scale mountains
- Increases the speed of a moving object
Frictional force
- Resistance that wind encounters as it moves over the surface of the Earth
- Effect of surface friction extends to the height of about 500m
- Effect of friction varies with the nature of the surface (texture, wind speed)
- Influenced by the time of year or season
Geostrophic winds: to turn
- Occurs between the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force
- Produces winds that do not flow directly from high to low but flow around
the pressure areas
- Surface friction decreases wind speed, it reduces the effect of the Coriolis
force and causes winds to move across isobars at an angle

Wind and Pressure Systems

- Driven by pressure differences from place to place
- Wind flows around pressure centres form enclosed areas called pressure
systems
- Anti-cyclone: surface winds spiral out from a high pressure area in a
clockwise direction
- Cyclone: surface winds spiral into a low pressure area in a counter
clockwise direction
- Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is created when winds converge
into the equatorial low
Global Pressure Belts
Equatorial Low Pressure (0-200 latitude)
- The tropics are located around the equator
- Warm, wet and well lighted zones on Earth
- Heavy rainfall
Subtropical High Pressure (25-350 latitude)
- Heavy solar radiation but relatively little precipitation
- High pressure zone of hot, dry air brings clear and cloudless skies
Sub-arctic Low Pressure (45-650 latitude)
- The mid-latitudes are damp in both the northern and southern
hemispheres
- Located in mid-latitude regions or temperate regions
o Mild conditions
o Often support relatively low vegetation
- Cool and wet
Polar High Pressure (beyond 700 latitude)
- The polar zone where heat and light are severely limited
- Precipitation is surprisingly light in this zone
- Dynamic: originates from the surface of the ocean
- Cold and dry

Definitions
- Prevailing winds: a wind from the direction that is predominant at a
particular place or season
- Doldrums: found along the equator where hot air rises straight up creating
little or no wind systems
- Trade winds: wind systems that are strong enough that sailors rely on
them to power ships to reach distant lands for goods to be traded
- Polar easterlies: blow in between the tropic of Cancer and the artic circle;
dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the
polar highs at the north and south poles towards low-pressure areas within
the westerlies at high latitudes
- Prevailing westerlies: winds in the middle latitudes between 35 and 65
degrees latitude, tend to blow from the high pressure area in the horse
latitudes towards the poles, from the west to the east
- Westerlies: dominant winds flowing from the subtropics toward higher
latitudes
- Local winds: caused by differences in topography
o Land and sea breezes
- Regional winds:
o Williwow squall: cold gust of wind systems which is known to bring
rain
o Mistral: common in southern France, cold, dry wind systems
o Santa Ana: dry wind systems found in Cali
o Chinook: wind systems that blows down from the mountains and is
often cooler
 o Pampero: wind system that blows in south America in mountains
o Sirocco: dry gusting wind systems which carry iron stained sand;
common in the Sahara Desert
o Monsoon: changes in direction of wind movement
 Air moves from the Indian ocean towards the land and it
results in intense rainfall

Jet Stream
- Column of wind systems that moves north and south of the equator and
they move from west to east
- Irregular bands of wind occurring at several different locations that
influence surface weather systems
- Core speeds exceed 300km/h
- Weaken during the hemisphere’s summer and strengthen during the
winter as the streams shift closer to the equator

Land and Sea Breezes

- During different times of the say, the land heats up and cools down faster
than the ocean
- The ocean is transparent and the sun’s radiation is distributed throughout
the body of water
- It takes a long time for the ocean to warm up
- During the day, we have cooler air mass which is denser so it sinks to
become sea breeze
- Warm air mass from the land rises and moves towards the ocean
- At night, reradiated energy from land cools down faster than the ocean to
become land breeze

Clouds
- Depending on wind movement, the shape and size of the cloud will
change
- Cloud formation is transient and do not have a rigid form
- Amount of water vapour or ice crystals which are formed by pockets of
water
Stratus
- Low level clouds made of water vapour
- Does not exceed 2000m
- Many stratus clouds are layered with gray and dull overcast
- Dull, grey and featureless, just like fog
Stratocumulus
- Does not exceed 2000m
- Uniform coverage of sky
- Soft gray overcast, groups of waves
- Heavy rolls and irregular overcast pattern
Nimbostratus
- Nimbo: rain lady
 - Does not exceed 2000m
- Characterized by intense rain shower
- Indicates there is rain or a tornado on the way
Altostratus
- Alto: height
- 2000-6000m high
- Continuous overcast shape
- Thin to think layered cloud with visible gray colour
Altocumulus
- Middle clouds made of water droplets
- Patches of cotton balls arranged in groups, rippling waves
- 2000-6000m
- Common in mountainous areas of the world
Cirrus
- High clouds made of ice
- 6000-13,000m
- Curl of hair, thin veil, feathery cloud
Cirrostratus
- Thin strand of water vapour
- High clouds between 6000-13,000m
- Veil of fused sheets of ice crystals, milky with sun and moon halos
Cirrocumulus
- Height of about 6000m-13, 000m
- Drappled, small white flakes in groups
- Lenticularis (lens-shaped)
Cumulus
- Does not exceed 13,000m
- Sharply outlined, fluffy, pussy and with flat base
- Often indicative of fair weather
Cumulonimbus
- Nimbus: rainstorm or thunderclouds
- Vertical cloud with height of about 13,000m
- Dense, heavy, massive, dark thunderstorm, hard showers, great vertical
development and towering with anvil shape
- Characterized by lightning and intense rainfall

Rainfall Types
- Frontal/Cyclonic rainfall
o Two air masses of different temperatures converge
o Cold air mass undercuts the warm air mass and a front (boundary)
developed between the air masses
o Warm air mass is forced to rise and condenses to form rain
especially when there is humidity
- Relief rainfall
o Occurs when moist air mass rises from the ocean and moves over
the land
 o Movement of air is intercepted by a chain of mountains, which
causes the air to rise and condense
o Rains heavily on the wind ward side of the mountains
o At the opposite side, there is rainfall and it is described as the rain
shadow area
- Convectional rainfall
o The warm air mass rises from the ocean and condenses to form
clouds especially in tropical areas