The General Circulation of the Atmosphere

The dependence of albedo on latitude and the angle of the sun’s rays to the ground
means that equatorial regions receive much more of the sun’s energy than the poles.

(In fact, the maximum heating effect is at about 20o north and south, since the sun’s
rays are nearly vertical overhead for three months rather than one at the equator.)

Pressure differences ⇒ movement of heat from the equator to the poles

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 The Hadley Cell

C D

Sun’s
rays

A B
Hot Cold
Earth

Suppose the ground at a point A is heated by the sun, making the air above it
warmer than that above point B which is cold and dense.

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Pressure varies with height according to

with

Above A, T is high and µ is small ⇒ pressure falls off slowly

Above B, T is low and µ is high ⇒ pressure falls off quickly

At ground level, pressure is fairly constant, so pressures at A and B are nearly the same.

D C Pressure at C is higher than pressure at D

height

⇒ winds flow from C to D

A, B
pressure

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 Sun’s rays heat Earth at A, which in turn heats the air above

Hot air at A rises to C

Pressure difference between C and D causes wind to flow from C to D

Air cools and falls to B

Conservation of mass forces wind to flow from B back to A

C D

A B
Hot Cold
Earth

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 Low pressure → low density
So the mass of air in the cylinder between C and D is less than that between A and B

Since the amount of air is conserved, the mass of air moving from C to D in unit time
must be the same as that flowing from B to A ⇒ Air must travel faster from C to D

⇒ Winds at high altitude are much higher velocity than at ground level

Consider a (short) cylinder of air, of mass m, density ρ and length L, with end area A

p+∆p density ρ p

L Area A

Newton’s second law is F=ma (force = mass × acceleration)

⇒ a = F/m = A ∆ p / (ρ L A) ∝ ∆p/p (recall ρ = Mp/RT)

Between A and B (ground level) ∆p/p ≈ 10mb/1000mb = 1%,

Between C and D (top of the troposphere) ∆p/p ≈ 4%
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 The three cell model
The southern hemisphere
is a mirror image of this.
Subpolar Low
Polar Cell
The polar front

North
Pole
Ferrel Cell
L

Subtropical High
The “horse latitudes”
H

Hadley Cell
60o

30o
Intertropical convergence Zone (ITCZ)
Equator L The “doldrums” (Low)

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 The Coriolis Force

Air movements will be modified by the effects of the Earth’s rotation

– the Coriolis force.

To an observer looking down on the Earth, all objects on to the

Earth’s surface are actually moving eastwards.

Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis
1792-1843
Radius of the Earth, R = 6.4×106 m

Earth’s angular velocity, ω = 2π / 1 day = 2 π / (24 × 60 × 60 s) = 7.27×10-5 s-1

So the velocity of a point on the equator is v = ω R = 6.4×106m × 7.27×10-5 s-1 = 465 ms-1

[Alternatively, in 1 day the point must move a distance 2πR, so must travel at a speed of
2πR / 1 day = 2 π / (24 × 60 × 60 s) = 465ms-1 ]

But this velocity depends on latitude – Glasgow need not move so far in one day

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How fast a point moves east depends on its latitude. N

Latitude of Glasgow, α ≈ 56o

r
α
Glasgow
So its distance from the axis of the Earth is,
α
R
r = R cos 56o ≈ =3.56 × 106m Equator
R
Glasgow need only travel 2 π r in one day,
so moves much more slowly,

v = 2π r / (24 × 60 × 60 s) ≈ 260 ms-1

S

Now imagine an object moving north from the equator. At the equator it is moving due north,
so also has a component of velocity 465ms-1 to the east from the Earth’s rotation. As it
moves north it keeps this velocity component but by the time it reaches Glasgow this
eastward velocity is more than that for a stationary object. Therefore the object will be
moving eastwards with a velocity (465-260)ms-1 = 205ms-1.

Objects moving away from the equator will be “pushed” to the East.
Objects moving toward the equator will be “pushed” to the West.

The is the Coriolis Force.

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58
The coriolis force is a force because to an observer stationary on the Earth, the object is
accelerated.

Newton’s second Law: F = ma Accelerations are caused by forces.

However, it is not a fundamental force but is a “fictitious” force caused by the

observer being in an accelerating frame of reference (a non-inertial frame).

Similar effects can be seen in other accelerating frames, eg a roundabout

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This Coriolis force effects global winds:

Remember the Polar, Ferrel and Hadley cells.

Air moving towards the lows at the

Doldrums and Polar Front will be
rotated by the Coriolis force

- westwards for winds towards the equator

- eastwards for winds away from the equator

Note: names of winds denote where they come from.

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The Geostrophic Wind

The Coriolis force can have other effects too. For example, it may balance the pressure
gradient between high and low pressure area, causing air to flow along isobars. This is
known as a Geostrophic wind.

Low Pressure
isobars
988
Pressure Force
992
996
Coriolis Force
1000
1004
mb
High Pressure

The Coriolis force rotates the wind until the coriolis force and pressure forces are balanced.

definition of a geostrophic wind

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 Let’s estimate the speed of a geostrophic wind from a weather chart.
FP
992
996
1000
100km
1004
mb FC

Imagine the weather over Glasgow showing isobars every 4mb with a distance of 100km
between them.

The pressure difference across on a cube (1m)3 will be 4mb/100km × 1m = 4×103 Nm-2
So the pressure force on the cube is

FP = 4×103 Nm-2 × Area of 1m2 = 4×10-3 N

This is balanced by the Coriolis force, FC = 2 m v ω sinα, so that FP = FC

So the wind’s velocity is:

v = FP / (2mωsinα) = 4 × 10-3 N / (2 × 1.3kg × 7.27×10-5s-1 sin 56o) = 26ms-1

This is about 60mph. mass of 1m3 of air 62

 Non-geostrophic winds
If the pressure force and the Coriolis force are not perfectly balanced the wind is said to be
non-geostrophic. This often happens when we have localised low and high pressure areas.

Low High
FP FC FC FP

For low pressure region, the pressure force For a high pressure region, the pressure force
acts inwards. It may be partially balanced by acts outwards. It may be partially balanced by
the Coriolis force acting outwards, but if the the Coriolis force acting inwards, and if the
pressure force is greater we will get circular Coriolis force is greater we will get circular
motion. motion.

The requirement that the Coriolis force should partially balance the pressure force dictates the
direction of airflow around the high/low.

Boys-Ballot Law: Stand with your back to the wind, and the low pressure area is on your left.
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This phenomenon causes
cyclones (low pressure regions)
and their associated weather
systems (eg. Hurricanes) to have
an anti-clockwise rotation in the
northern hemisphere and a
clockwise rotation in the
southern hemisphere.

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Hurricane Katrina
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Debunking a myth

It is often said that the same effect causes water to go down a plughole anti-clockwise in
the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

This is not true!

Let’s make an order of magnitude calculation:

Assume that the water going down the plughole moves at about 1ms-1

At 56o north, coriolis acceleration = 2 ω v sin α = 2 × 7.27×10-5 s-1 × 1ms-1 × sin 56o

≈ 0.0001 ms-2

This is tiny and can have no discernable effect on the water. Whether or not the flow
moves clockwise or anti-clockwise is due to the geometry of the sink!

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 Fronts
An air mass is a region of air whose properties are constant throughout its entire horizontal
extent. This is caused by the air remaining in contact long enough to allow variations in
properties to be reduced and reach equilibrium.

A front is the interface between two air masses.

Cold Front

A cold front is where cold air is advancing,

pushing warm air ahead of it. The cold air
Warm Air displaces the lighter warm air, pushing it
upwards. Expansion (not contact) cools the
warm air, and may cause water in the warm
air to condense into clouds and potentially
Cold Air
rain.

On weather charts, a cold front is symbolically

represented by a solid blue line with triangles
pointing in the direction of movement.

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 Warm Front
A warm front is where warm air pushes
cold air ahead of it. Again the warm air
will be pushed up, potentially forming
Warm Air clouds and rain.
Cold Air

A warm front is represented by a red line with

semicircles pointing in the direction of motion.

Occluded Front

Cold fronts travel more quickly than warm

Warm Air fronts, so a cold front may overtake a
warm front. When this happens we have
an occluded front. The warm air is
undercut and lifted from the ground.
Cool air
Cold Air

It is represented by a purple line with both

semicircles and triangles. 68
Depressions from the Polar Front

Instabilities in the polar front can easily develop into depressions which dominate the
Scottish weather.
L occluded
Cold Air

Warm Air

Instability in polar front breaks off and forms a depression.

surface winds

high altitude wind

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Sea Breezes
The physics of sea breezes is very similar to that of the Hadley cell. In this case, it is the
land which heats up from the sun’s rays while the sea remains cool (the oceans have a
very high heat capacity).

Sea breeze

Hot Cold
land water

Valley Winds
Similarly, valley winds are generated in mountain areas such as the alps. High altitude
areas become warmer than the lower ends of the valleys and so winds blow up the
valleys.
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The Foehn Effect
5oC
saturated air dry air
700m
7oC 9oC
dew point
300m
10oC 12oC

If an air current is forced to pass over a mountain range it may be cooled sufficiently
to reach its dew point. Thus the windward side of mountains get a lot of rain.

Since the air has lost its water, when coming down the other side of the mountain it
is dry and will heat rapidly (at the DALR value of 10K/km). Thus one often finds a hot
dry wind blowing off mountains.

The Chinook is a hot dry air on the Eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains.

The Froehn is a warm air which blows off the Alps into the valleys to the north.

This is why the west of Scotland has a much higher rainfall than the east.

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