Temperature, Buoyancy, and Vertical Motion

Temperature, Buoyancy,
and Vertical Motion

Temperature, Pressure, and Density
Buoyancy and Static Stability
Temperature Lapse Rates
Rising & Falling Motions in the Air
What is Air Temperature?

Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy
(speed) of air molecules as they bounce around
High temperature air is made of fast molecules that
deliver a lot of energy when they hit something
Cold air is made of slower molecules that hit things
less often and deliver a weaker wallop when they do
The sensation of warmth is created by air molecules
striking and bouncing off your skin surface
Temperature
Scales
In the US, we use
Fahrenheit most
often
Celsius (centigrade)
is a scale based on
freezing/boiling of
water
Kelvin is the
absolute
temperature scale
How
Atmospehric
Temperature is
Measured
Helium-filled weather
balloons are released from
over 1000 locations around the
world every 12 hours
(some places more often)
These document temperature,
pressure, humidity, and winds
aloft
Pressure
Pressure is defined as a
force applied per unit area
The weight of air is a force,
equal to the mass m times the
acceleration due to gravity g
Air pressure results from the
weight of the entire overlying
column of air!
Density (mass/volume)
Same number of
molecules and mass
Sample 1 takes up
more space
Sample 2 takes up
less space
Sample 2 is more
dense than sample 1
Sample 1
Sample 2
Pressure and Density

Gravity holds most
of the air close to
the ground
The weight of the
overlying air is the
pressure at any
point
Density is the Key

to Buoyancy!
Changes in density drive vertical motion in
the atmosphere and ocean.
Less dense air rises when it is surrounded
by denser air.
-Think of a hollow plastic ball submerged under water.
What happens when you release it?
The ball is less dense than the water around it
Buoyancy and Temperature

Hot air has fast-moving molecules that spread
out and occupy more space (volume) so it is
less dense!
Cold air has slow-moving molecules that pack
more closely together and take up less space
so it is more dense
An air parcel rises in the atmosphere when its
density is less than its surroundings
So air that is warmer than its surroundings
rises, and air that is colder than its
surroundings sinks
Trading Height for Heat

We can think of two kinds of energy in the air:
potential energy (due to its height)
internal energy (due to the motions of the molecules
that make it up)
Air can trade one kind of energy for the other, but
conserves the overall total
When air rises, it gains height but loses heat

(cools) when it sinks it loses height but gains
heat (warms)
Hot Air
Ballooning
Contain some air in
the balloon
envelope
Add some serious
heat energy!
Air expands and
rises (some gets
out the bottom)
Balloon accelerates
upward
Temperature, Density, and

Convection
Heating of the Earths surface during

daytime causes the air to vertically mix
Lapse Rate
The lapse rate is the change of temperature
with height in the atmosphere
Environmental Lapse Rate
The actual vertical profile of temperature
(as measured on a tower or airplane or balloon)
Dry Lapse Rate

The change of temperature that an air parcel would
experience if it were displaced vertically with no
condensation or heat exchange
Dry Lapse Rate
10 degrees C per kilometer
Warming and Cooling due to changing pressure
Fort Collins is 5000

feet above sea level
Longs Peak is 14255
feet above sea level
Climbing 9255 feet is
almost 3000 m
Dry lapse rate 10 C /
km, so should be 30 C
colder (=54 F)
Suppose its 95 F in FC
today, 95 54 = 41 F
on Longs!
Hiking Longs
Peak
Stability & Instability
A rock, like a parcel of air, that is in stable equilibrium

will return to its original position when pushed.
A rock or parcel of air in unstable equilibrium will rush
away from its initial position when pushed a little
Stability in the atmosphere
An Initial
Perturbation
Stable
Unstable
Neutral
If an air parcel is displaced from its original height it can:

Return to its original height
- Stable
Accelerate upward because it is buoyant - Unstable
Stay at the place to which it was displaced - Neutral
Why is stability important?

Vertical motions in the atmosphere are a critical part
of energy transport and strongly influence the
hydrologic cycle
Without vertical motion, there would be no
precipitation, no mixing of pollutants away from
ground level - weather would be totally boring!
There are two types of vertical motion:
forced motion such as forcing air up over a hill,
over colder air, or from horizontal convergence
buoyant motion in which the air rises because it
is less dense than its surroundings
Vertical Motion and Temperature

Rising air expands,
using energy to
push outward
against its
environment,
cooling the air
Air may be forced
to rise or sink, and
change its
temperature
relative to the air
around it
Stability and the

Dry Lapse Rate
A rising air parcel cools according to the
dry lapse rate (10 C per km)
If rising, cooling air is:
warmer than surrounding air it is less dense
and buoyancy accelerates the parcel upward
UNSTABLE!
colder than surrounding air it is more dense
and buoyancy opposes (slows) the rising motion
STABLE!
Unstable
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is unstable if

the actual lapse rate exceeds
the dry lapse rate
(air cools more than 10 C/km)
This situation is rare in nature
(not long-lived)
Usually results from
surface heating and is
confined to a shallow layer
near the surface
Vertical mixing eliminates it
Mixing results in a dry lapse
rate in the mixed layer, unless
condensation (cloud formation)
occurs
What conditions
make the air unstable?
Warming of surface air
Solar heating of ground
Warm advection near surface
Air moving over a warm surface
(e.g., a warm body of water)
Cooling of air aloft
Cold advection aloft (thunder-snow!)
Radiative cooling of air/clouds aloft
The atmosphere is stable if

the actual lapse rate is less
than the dry lapse rate
(air cools less than 10
C/km)
This situation is common in
nature (happens most calm
nights, esp in winter)
Usually results from
surface cooling and is
confined to a shallow
layer near the surface
Vertical mixing or
surface heating
eliminates it
Stable
Atmosphere
What conditions
make the air stable?
Radiative cooling of surface at night
Advection of cold air near the surface
Air moving over a cold surface
(e.g., snowy ground, cold water, ice,)
Warming of the air due to compression
from subsidence (sinking)
Air Stability and Pollution

When air is stable
(cold near ground),
pollution pools like
water (cough
cough)
Unstable air (warm
near surface)
mixes pollution up
up and away
Stability and Clouds

Stable air (cold
surface, warm
aloft) resists
vertical motion
Unstable air
(warm surface,
cold aloft)
amplifies
vertical motion
Flat (stratus) clouds
Puffy (cumulus) clouds
Stability and Turbulence

Daytime
heating of the
ground by the
sun produces
instability
Strong
vertical motion
near ground is
turbulent
Vertical Motion and Weather

Rising motion cools
the air, condenses
water, produces
clouds & rain
Sinking motion warms

and dries the air,
produces sunny weather

Temperature, Buoyancy, and Vertical Motion

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Temperature, Buoyancy, and Vertical Motion

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Temperature, Buoyancy,

and Vertical Motion

What is Air Temperature?

Pressure and Density

Density is the Key

Buoyancy and Temperature

Trading Height for Heat

When air rises, it gains height but loses heat

Temperature, Density, and

Heating of the Earths surface during

Dry Lapse Rate

Dry Lapse Rate

10 degrees C per kilometer

Warming and Cooling due to changing pressure

Fort Collins is 5000

Stability & Instability

A rock, like a parcel of air, that is in stable equilibrium

Stability in the atmosphere

If an air parcel is displaced from its original height it can:

Why is stability important?

Vertical Motion and Temperature

Stability and the

The atmosphere is unstable if

The atmosphere is stable if

Air Stability and Pollution

Stability and Clouds

Flat (stratus) clouds

Puffy (cumulus) clouds

Stability and Turbulence

Vertical Motion and Weather

Sinking motion warms

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