Principles of Planetary Climate Assignment 2

Saptarshi Pandey, 20211177

IISER Pune

Abstract
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ac, adipiscing vitae, felis. Curabitur dictum gravida mauris. Nam arcu libero, nonummy eget,
consectetuer id, vulputate a, magna. Donec vehicula augue eu neque. Pellentesque habitant
morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Mauris ut leo. Cras
viverra metus rhoncus sem. Nulla et lectus vestibulum urna fringilla ultrices. Phasellus eu
tellus sit amet tortor gravida placerat. Integer sapien est, iaculis in, pretium quis, viverra
ac, nunc. Praesent eget sem vel leo ultrices bibendum. Aenean faucibus. Morbi dolor nulla,
malesuada eu, pulvinar at, mollis ac, nulla. Curabitur auctor semper nulla. Donec varius orci
eget risus. Duis nibh mi, congue eu, accumsan eleifend, sagittis quis, diam. Duis eget orci sit
amet orci dignissim rutrum.

1 Question 1
Verify that the enthalpy of the atmospheric column is conserved when dry
convection is alone active (due to a convective instability). (3 marks)

1.1 Theory temperature profile as a function of pres-

sure. To accomplish this, we utilized the
When dry convection is alone active, the adia-
DryConvectiveAdjustment object from
batic lapse rate is followed, which means that
the climt library to perform convective
the temperature decreases at a constant rate
adjustment calculations on the atmo-
with height. This condition is met when there
spheric state.
is convective instability, i.e., the air near the
surface is warmer and less dense than the air
above it, leading to upward motion and sub-
sequent cooling due to expansion. During this
process, the potential energy of the system is
converted into kinetic energy, and ultimately,
to thermal energy as the air parcels are slowed
down by friction and turbulence.
Since dry convection is adiabatic, there is
no exchange of heat with the surroundings,
and hence, the enthalpy of the atmospheric
column is conserved during the process.

1.2 Running of Model

• The simulation involved modifying the We then modified the temperature of
temperature of the atmosphere above a all levels in the atmosphere above
certain level and plotting the resulting a specified level by subtracting 20

Kelvin from their temperature. We
then plotted the temperature profile
as a function of pressure. To cal-
culate the pressure difference between
adjacent atmospheric layers, we used
the (air pressure on interf ace levels)
variable from the atmospheric state and
applied unit conversions as necessary.
• Next, we created a plot of the initial
potential temperature as a function of
pressure in the atmosphere.
The potential temperature is a useful at-
mospheric variable that represents the
temperature that an air parcel would
have if it were moved to a reference pres-
sure level while remaining dry adiabatic.
This quantity is conserved in an adi-
abatic process and is therefore useful
for understanding atmospheric stability,
lapse rates, and convective processes.
• dp = rho ∗ h ∗ g
where rho is the density of air and h is
the height of the layer.
Substituting this expression for dp into
the enthalpy formula, we obtain:
hlayer =cp state[airt emperature]* rho *
h • Figure X shows the final enthalpy distri-
• Therefore, to obtain the total enthalpy
in Joules for the entire layer, we need
to multiply the enthalpy per kilogram
by the mass of air in the layer, which
has units of kilograms per square meter.
Thus, the final units of enthalpy that we
obtain are Joules per square meter.
2 Question 2
In the dry RCE model, compute and plot the energy input to the column, and
verify that this input is (roughly) equal to the increase in enthalpy in the column
over time. (5 marks)
2
Baltic Security Foundation
• Then,we run a model to compute the to-
tal enthalpy of the Earth’s atmosphere
at different time-steps. We use a loop to
iterate over time-steps for 6 days (6*24
hours) with a resolution of 10 minutes.
At each time-step, we calculate the en-
thalpy of each mid-level of the atmo-
sphere by using the formula , where
is the specific heat of air at constant
pressure, T is the temperature, and m
is the mass. We then sum up the en-
thalpy of each mid-level to get the total
enthalpy of the atmosphere at that time-
step. This total enthalpy is stored in a
list that contains the total enthalpy of
the atmosphere at different time-steps.
At the end of the loop, we have a list of
the total enthalpy of the atmosphere at
different time-steps.
• We plot the final temperature distribu-
tion obtained after running the atmo-
spheric model.The temperature values
were obtained from the state variable
which contains the final state of the at-
mospheric model after running it.This
plot helps in visualizing the final tem-
perature distribution of the atmosphere.
bution in the atmosphere after running
the model for 6 days. The enthalpy dis-
tribution is plotted against the pressure
levels in millibars.
Finally, we are plotting the variation
of the total enthalpy of the atmosphere
with respect to time.
 Baltic Security Foundation

2.1 Energy Input to Column
2.2 Subsection
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adi-
piscing elit. Ut purus elit, vestibulum ut,
placerat ac, adipiscing vitae, felis. Curabi-
tur dictum gravida mauris. Nam arcu libero,
nonummy eget, consectetuer id, vulputate a,
magna. Donec vehicula augue eu neque. Pel-
lentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et
netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.
Mauris ut leo. Cras viverra metus rhoncus
sem. Nulla et lectus vestibulum urna fringilla
ultrices. Phasellus eu tellus sit amet tortor
gravida placerat. Integer sapien est, iaculis
in, pretium quis, viverra ac, nunc. Praesent
eget sem vel leo ultrices bibendum. Aenean
faucibus. Morbi dolor nulla, malesuada eu,
pulvinar at, mollis ac, nulla. Curabitur auc-
tor semper nulla. Donec varius orci eget risus.
Duis nibh mi, congue eu, accumsan eleifend,
sagittis quis, diam. Duis eget orci sit amet
orci dignissim rutrum.
Nam dui ligula, fringilla a, euismod soda-
les, sollicitudin vel, wisi. Morbi auctor lorem
non justo. Nam lacus libero, pretium at, lo-
bortis vitae, ultricies et, tellus. Donec aliquet,
tortor sed accumsan bibendum, erat ligula ali-
quet magna, vitae ornare odio metus a mi.
Morbi ac orci et nisl hendrerit mollis. Suspen-
disse ut massa. Cras nec ante. Pellentesque a
nulla. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et ma-
gnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus
mus. Aliquam tincidunt urna. Nulla ullam-
corper vestibulum turpis. Pellentesque cursus
luctus mauris.

3 Question 3
Compute the surface and top-of-atmosphere energy balance separately, and plot
them as the model runs to equilibrium. Which of the two balances reaches
equilibrium first? What implications do you think this observation has for
deploying measurement platforms to measure energy imbalance in our own planet
due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. (5 marks)

3.1 Subsection
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adi-
piscing elit. Ut purus elit, vestibulum ut,
placerat ac, adipiscing vitae, felis. Curabi-
tur dictum gravida mauris. Nam arcu libero,
nonummy eget, consectetuer id, vulputate a,
magna. Donec vehicula augue eu neque. Pel-
lentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et
netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.
Mauris ut leo. Cras viverra metus rhoncus
sem. Nulla et lectus vestibulum urna fringilla
ultrices. Phasellus eu tellus sit amet tortor
gravida placerat. Integer sapien est, iaculis
in, pretium quis, viverra ac, nunc. Praesent
eget sem vel leo ultrices bibendum. Aenean
faucibus. Morbi dolor nulla, malesuada eu,
pulvinar at, mollis ac, nulla. Curabitur auc-
tor semper nulla. Donec varius orci eget risus.
Duis nibh mi, congue eu, accumsan eleifend,
sagittis quis, diam. Duis eget orci sit amet
orci dignissim rutrum.
3.2 Subsection
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adi-
piscing elit. Ut purus elit, vestibulum ut,
placerat ac, adipiscing vitae, felis. Curabi-
tur dictum gravida mauris. Nam arcu libero,
nonummy eget, consectetuer id, vulputate a,
magna. Donec vehicula augue eu neque. Pel-
lentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et
netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.
Mauris ut leo. Cras viverra metus rhoncus
sem. Nulla et lectus vestibulum urna fringilla
ultrices. Phasellus eu tellus sit amet tortor

3
 Baltic Security Foundation

gravida placerat. Integer sapien est, iaculis
in, pretium quis, viverra ac, nunc. Praesent
eget sem vel leo ultrices bibendum. Aenean
faucibus. Morbi dolor nulla, malesuada eu,
pulvinar at, mollis ac, nulla. Curabitur auc-
tor semper nulla. Donec varius orci eget risus.
Duis nibh mi, congue eu, accumsan eleifend,
sagittis quis, diam. Duis eget orci sit amet
orci dignissim rutrum.
Nam dui ligula, fringilla a, euismod soda-
les, sollicitudin vel, wisi. Morbi auctor lorem
non justo. Nam lacus libero, pretium at, lo-
bortis vitae, ultricies et, tellus. Donec aliquet,
tortor sed accumsan bibendum, erat ligula ali-
quet magna, vitae ornare odio metus a mi.
Morbi ac orci et nisl hendrerit mollis. Suspen-
disse ut massa. Cras nec ante. Pellentesque a
nulla. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et ma-
gnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus
mus. Aliquam tincidunt urna. Nulla ullam-
corper vestibulum turpis. Pellentesque cursus
luctus mauris.
Nulla malesuada porttitor diam. Donec fe-
lis erat, congue non, volutpat at, tincidunt tri-
stique, libero. Vivamus viverra fermentum fe-
lis. Donec nonummy pellentesque ante. Pha-
sellus adipiscing semper elit. Proin fermen-
tum massa ac quam. Sed diam turpis, mole-
stie vitae, placerat a, molestie nec, leo. Mae-
cenas lacinia. Nam ipsum ligula, eleifend at,
accumsan nec, suscipit a, ipsum. Morbi blan-
dit ligula feugiat magna. Nunc eleifend con-
sequat lorem. Sed lacinia nulla vitae enim.
Pellentesque tincidunt purus vel magna. In-
teger non enim. Praesent euismod nunc eu
purus. Donec bibendum quam in tellus. Nul-
lam cursus pulvinar lectus. Donec et mi. Nam
vulputate metus eu enim. Vestibulum pellen-
tesque felis eu massa.

4 Question 4
• After the dry RCE model has reached equilibrium, stop the model and
change the optical depth by creating a new optical depth profile by changing
the ”optical depth at the equator” from 10 to 12.

• In separate experiments, change the ocean mixed layer thickness to 2 and 5

meters respectively. Then run the model to equilibrium again.

• The TOA imbalance is the amount of energy that is being trapped by the
climate system as it moves towards equilibrium. A part of this energy is
stored by the surface. Plot time series of energy imbalance at TOA and
energy uptake by the surface. What fraction of the TOA imbalance is taken
up by the surface, and does this fraction depend on the mixed layer
thickness? (7 marks)

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut purus elit, vestibulum ut, placerat
ac, adipiscing vitae, felis. Curabitur dictum gravida mauris. Nam arcu libero, nonummy eget,
consectetuer id, vulputate a, magna. Donec vehicula augue eu neque. Pellentesque habitant
morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Mauris ut leo. Cras
viverra metus rhoncus sem. Nulla et lectus vestibulum urna fringilla ultrices. Phasellus eu
tellus sit amet tortor gravida placerat. Integer sapien est, iaculis in, pretium quis, viverra
ac, nunc. Praesent eget sem vel leo ultrices bibendum. Aenean faucibus. Morbi dolor nulla,
malesuada eu, pulvinar at, mollis ac, nulla. Curabitur auctor semper nulla. Donec varius orci
eget risus. Duis nibh mi, congue eu, accumsan eleifend, sagittis quis, diam. Duis eget orci sit
amet orci dignissim rutrum.

4
 Baltic Security Foundation

Nam dui ligula, fringilla a, euismod sodales, sollicitudin vel, wisi. Morbi auctor lorem non
justo. Nam lacus libero, pretium at, lobortis vitae, ultricies et, tellus. Donec aliquet, tortor sed
accumsan bibendum, erat ligula aliquet magna, vitae ornare odio metus a mi. Morbi ac orci et
nisl hendrerit mollis. Suspendisse ut massa. Cras nec ante. Pellentesque a nulla. Cum sociis
natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Aliquam tincidunt
urna. Nulla ullamcorper vestibulum turpis. Pellentesque cursus luctus mauris.

References