Course Outline for ESI-101

 Environmental problems of urban areas

 Air pollution due to vehicles and fire crackers
 Origin, structure and composition of atmosphere
 The atmosphere energy balance
 Global atmospheric circulation

Course Instructor
Dr. Saifi Izhar
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad
Email: saifi@iitism.ac.in
 Mechanisms of Heat Transfer

Energy from the sun is transferred through space and through the earth's atmosphere to the earth's
surface. There are three ways heat is transferred into and through the atmosphere: Radiation,
Conduction, Convection
 Conduction
 Conduction is the molecule-to-
molecule transfer of heat
through molecular collisions.
 Air, in contrast, is a very poor
conductor of heat.
 Consequently, conduction is
important only between Earth’s
surface and the air immediately
in contact with the surface.
 Conduction is the least
significant means of heat
transfer for the atmosphere as
a whole, and we can disregard
it when considering most
meteorological phenomena.
Convection
 Convection is a means of
heat transfer involving the
movement or circulation of a
substance.
 It takes place in fluids (liquids
such as water and gases
such as air) where the
material can flow.
 Much of the heat transport in
Earth’s atmosphere and
oceans occurs by convection.
 This process causes heated
components upward
movement and cooler
components sink downward
and convection circulation is
established.
Radiation
 Radiation is the only
mechanism that can transfer
thermal energy through the
vacuum of space and is
responsible for solar energy
reaching Earth.
 Energy from the Sun is
radiated in a range of
wavelengths.
 The thermal energy radiated
by earth surface is
predominantly long wave
radiation while incoming solar
radiation is shortwave
 Differential Heating
Solar Energy- source of
HEAT for our planet
 Latitudinal Energy Budget

The transfer of surplus heat between the tropics and the poles drives Earth’s weather
system including winds and ocean currents.
 Global atmospheric circulation
Important points to understand global circulation system

 The global atmospheric circulation is mainly dependent on Temperature difference and

Coriolis force
 Surface Wind blows horizontally from High to Low Pressure region
 Pressure region changes approximately every 30° Latitude
 The wind flow pattern is to be noted down with respect to Earth surface or top of atmosphere
 Cold air sinks down while hot air rises up
 When surface air comes in contact from different direction then it rises up as a result of
convection
 Earth moves around its axis (west to east) lead to Coriolis force
 Coriolis force deflects wind towards the Clockwise direction in Northern hemisphere while
Anticlockwise direction in Southern hemisphere
 The northern and southern hemisphere have mirror image for the global circulation pattern
 Atmospheric Circulation Model
on stationary Earth by George Hedley
Large temperature contrast between the poles and the equator
creates a large convection cell in both the Northern and Southern
Hemispheres
In Hadley’s model or Single Cell circulation model (1735),
 warm equatorial air rises until it reaches the tropopause, where it
spreads toward the poles (high latitudes). Eventually, this upper-
level flow reaches the poles, where cooling causes it to sink and
spread out at the surface as equatorward moving winds.
 As this cold polar air approaches the equator, it is reheated and
rises again. Thus, the circulation proposed by Hadley has upper-
level air flowing poleward and surface air moving equatorward.
 Although correct in principle, Hadley’s model does not take
into account Earth’s rotation.
Atmospheric Circulation Model
on rotating Earth

Due to dissimilar solar radiation and coriolis force as a

result of earth own rotation, three convection cells are
formed
1. Hadley Cell (George Hadley (1735))
2. Ferrel Cell (William Ferrel (1856))
3. Polar Cell
 Hadley Cell and Polar Cell are created based on
thermal difference - Thermal Cell
 Ferrel Cell – Mechanical cell
 Atmospheric Circulation Model
on rotating Earth

Coriolis force deflects to Clockwise direction in
Northern hemisphere and left in Southern
hemisphere (Anti-Clockwise)
Usually, fair and dry/hot weather is associated with high pressure,
with rainy and stormy weather associated with low pressure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDo7Se4QsI&list=PL4ICDLZy58XG47QgyMeL4Y3cYLCS3xMQ9&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nKanfN1Jlc&list=PL4ICDLZy58XG47QgyMeL4Y3cYLCS3xMQ9&index=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcugv5zNI9w
Little or No wind
 Jet Streams

• Jet streams are narrow bands of strong wind that

generally blow from west to east all across the globe.
• Jet streams form when warm air masses meet cold air
masses in the atmosphere.
• They move at altitudes of about 8 to 15 kilometers (5
to 9 miles), at tropopause.
• Earth has four primary jet streams: two polar jet
streams, near the north and south poles, and two
subtropical jet streams closer to the equator.
• On average, jet streams move at about 129 to 225
kilometers per hour. But dramatic temperature
differences between the warm and cool air masses
can cause jet streams to move at much higher speeds
— greater than 225 kilometers per hour.
Thanks