12.812 General Circulation of the Earth's Atmosphere

Fall 2005

Global climate system. (Image by MIT OCW.)

Course Highlights

This course features lecture notes and exams.

Course Description

This course examines diagnostic studies of the Earth's atmosphere and discusses their implications for the theory of the structure and general circulation of the Earth's atmosphere. It includes some discussion of the validation and use of general circulation models as atmospheric analogs.

Syllabus

Course Description

This course examines diagnostic studies of the Earth's atmosphere and discusses their implications for the theory of the structure and general circulation of the Earth's atmosphere. Includes some discussion of the validation and use of general circulation models as atmospheric analogs.

Prerequisites

Quasi-balanced Circulations in Oceans and Atmospheres (12.803) or Dynamics of the Atmosphere (12.810).

Topics

Introduction
Analysis Techniques
The Angular Momentum and Kinetic Energy Budgets
The Water Vapor Budget
The Heat Budget
Spectral Analysis
Forcing of the Zonal Mean Circulations
The Energy Cycle
Numerical Models

Texts

Lorenz, E. N. "The Nature and Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere." Geneva: World Meteorological Organization Publication 218 (1967): 161.

Peixoto, J. P., and A. H. Oort. Physics of Climate. New York, NY: American Institute of Physics Press, 1992. ISBN: 0883187124.

Exams and Term Paper

There will be a mid-term exam, an end-of-term exam, and a term paper.

Grading

Grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES	PERCENTAGES
Mid-term Exam	30%
End-of-Term Exam	30%
Term Paper	40%

Calendar

Calendar schedule.
WEEK #	TOPICS
1	Introduction
1-2	Analysis Techniques
3-4	The Angular Momentum and Kinetic Energy Budgets
5	The Water Vapor Budget
6-8	The Heat Budget
9	Spectral Analysis
10	Forcing of the Zonal Mean Circulations
11	The Energy Cycle
12	Numerical Models

Study Materials

References organized by lecture topics:

Study materials.
WEEK #	TOPICS	REFERENCES
1	Introduction
1-2	Analysis Techniques	Oort, A. H. "Adequacy of the rawinsonde network for global circulation studies tested through numerical model output." Mon Wea Rev 106 (1978): 174-195. Bengtsson, L., et al. "FGGE 4-dimensional data assimilation at ECMWF." Bull Amer Meteor Soc 63 (1982): 29-43. Rosen, et al. "Circulation statistics derived from level lll-b and station-based analyses during FGGE." Mon Wea Rev 113 (1985): 65-88. Kalnay, E., et al. "The NCEP/NCAR 40-year re-analysis project." Bull Amer Meteor Soc 77 (1996): 437-471. Rabier, F., et al. "The ECMWF operational implementation of four-dimensional variational assimilation." Q J Roy Meteor Soc 126, Parts I to III (2000a, b, c): 1143-1190. Trenberth, K., et al. "The atmospheric energy budget and implications for surface fluxes and ocean heat transports." Climate Dyn 17 (2001): 259-276.
3-4	The Angular Momentum and Kinetic Energy Budgets	Starr, et al. "Momentum and zonal kinetic energy balance of the atmosphere from five years of hemisphere data." Tellus 22 (1970): 251. Starr and Gaut. "Symmetrical formulation of the zonal kinetic energy equation." Tellus 21 (1969): 185. Newton. "Mountain torques in the global angular momentum balance." J Atmos Sci 28 (1971a): 623. ———. "Global angular momentum balance: earth torque and atmospheric fluxes." J Atmos Sci 28 (1971b): 1329. Newton, C. W. "Southern hemisphere general circulation in relation to global energy and momentum balance requirements." In Meteorology of the Southern Hemisphere. Meteorol Monogr 13, no. 35. Amer Meteorol Soc (1971): 215-245. Boston, MA. ISSN: 00659401. Rosen, et al. "Variability in the annual fields of large-scale atmospheric water transport." Mon Wea Rev 107 (1979): 26-37. Oort, A. H., and J. P. Peixoto. "Global angular momentum and energy balance requirements from observations." Adv Geophys 25 (1983): 355-490. Huang, et al. "The balance of global angular momentum in a long-term atmospheric data set." J Geophys Res 104 (1999): 2031-2040.
5	The Water Vapor Budget	Peixoto. "Pole-to-pole water balance for the IGY from aerological data." Nordic Hydrology 3 (1972): 22. Peixoto and Oort. "The atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle and climate." In Variations in the Global Water Budget. Edited by Street-Perrott, et al. D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1983, pp. 5-65. Adler, Robert F., et al. "The Version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979-Present)." Journal of Hydrometeorology 4 (2003): 1147-1167. Andersson, Erik, et al. "Assimilation and modeling of the atmospheric hydrological cycle in the ECMWF forecasting system." Bulletin of the AMS 86 (2004): 387-402.
6-8	The Heat Budget	Haar, Vonder, and Suomi. "Measurements of the Earth's radiation budget from satellites during a 5-year period." J Atmos Sci 28 (1971): 305-314. Oort. "The observed annual cycle in the meridional transport of atmospheric energy." J Atmos Sci 28 (1971): 325-339. Oort, A. H., and E. M. Rasmusson. "Atmospheric circulation statistics." NOAA Prof Pap 5. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 323. Kondratyev. "Radiation Processes in the Atmosphere." W.M.O. 1972, chapters 1 and 2. Hantel. "On the vertical eddy transports in the northern atmosphere, Part I." J Geophys Res 81 (1976): 1577. Stephens, et al. "Earth Radiation Budgets." J Geophys Res 86 (1981): 9739. Fullmer, J. W. A. "Calculations of the quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity gradient from climatological data." J Atmos Sci 39 (1982): 1873-1877. Carissimo, Oort, and Vonder Haar. "Estimating the Meridional Energy Transports in the Atmosphere and Ocean." J Phys Ocean 15 (1985): 82-91. Ramanathan, et al. "Cloud-radiative forcing and climate: results from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment." Science 243 (1989): 57. Ardanuy, et al. "Global relationships among the earth's radiation budget, cloudiness, volcanic aerosols, and surface temperature." J Climate 5 (1992): 1120-1139. Stone and Nemet. "Baroclinic adjustment: a comparison between theory, observations, and models." J Atmos Sci 53 (1996): 1663-1674. Macdonald, A. M., and C. Wunsch. "An estimate of global ocean circulation and heat fluxes." Nature 382 (1996): 436-439. Jiang, S., P. H. Stone, and P. Malanotte-Rizzoli. "An assessment of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory ocean model with coarse resolution: Annual-mean climatology." J Geophys Res 104 (1999): 25, 623-25, and 645. Trenberth, K. E., and J. M. Caron. "Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports." J Climate 14 (2001): 3433-3443.
9	Spectral Analysis	Wiin-Nelson. "On the annual variation and spectral distribution of atmospheric energy." Tellus 19 (1967): 540. Saltzman. "Large-scale atmospheric energetics in the wave-number domain." Rev Geophys Sp Phys 8 (1970): 289. Julian, et al. "On the spectral distribution of large-scale atmospheric kinetic energy." J Atmos Sci 27 (1970): 376. Holopainen. "An observational study of the energy balance of the stationary disturbances in the atmosphere." Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 96 (1970): 626. Solomon, A. "An observational study of the spatial and temporal scales of transient eddy sensible heat fluxes." J Climate 10 (1997): 508-520.
10	Forcing of the Zonal Mean Circulations	Eliassen and Palm. "On the transfer of energy in stationary mountain waves." Geofys Publ 22, no. 3 (1961): 1-23. Charney and Drazin. "Propagation of planetary scale disturbances from the lower into the upper atmosphere." J Geophys Res 66 (1961): 83. Vernekar. "On mean meridional circulations in the atmosphere." Mon Wea Rev 95 (1967): 705. Andrews and McIntyre. "Planetary waves in horizontal and vertical shear: the generalized Eliassen-Palm cross sections for the troposphere." J Atmos Sci 33 (1976): 2031. Edmon, et al. "Eliassen-Palm cross sections for the troposphere." J Atmos Sci 37 (1980): 2600. Stone and Salustri. "Generalization of the quasi-geostrophic Eliassen-Palm flux to include eddy forcing of condensation heating." J Atmos Sci 41 (1984): 3527.
11	The Energy Cycle	Lorenz. "Available potential energy and maintenance of the general circulation." Tellus 7 (1955): 157. Peixoto and Oort. "The annual distribution of atmospheric energy on a planetary scale." J Geophys Res 79 (1974): 2149. Oort and Peixoto. "The annual cycle of the energetics of the atmosphere on a planetary scale." J Geophys Res 79 (1974): 2705. Wiin-Nielsen and Chen. Fundamentals of Atmospheric Energetics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 376. ISBN: 0195071271. Somerville, R. C. J., et al. "The GISS Model of the Global Atmosphere." J Atmos Sci 31 (1974): 84-117.
12	Numerical Models	Phillips. "The general circulation of the atmosphere: A numerical experiment." Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 82 (1956): 123. Cess, R., G. Potter, et al. "Interpretation of cloud-climate feedback as produced by 14 atmospheric general circulation models." Science 245 (1989): 513-516. Houghton, J., et al., eds. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Published for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (by) Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN: 0521807670. Boville, B., and P. Gent. "The NCAR Climate System Model, Version One." J Climate 11 (1998): 1115-1130. Solomon, A., and P. H. Stone. "Equilibration in an eddy-resolving model with simplified physics." J Atmos Sci 58 (2001): 561-574. Gleckler, P. "Surface energy balance errors in AGCMs: Implications for ocean-atmosphere model coupling." Geophys Res Lett 32, L 15 (2005): 708.