Imperial College London

BSc/MSci EXAMINATION June 2018

This paper is also taken for the relevant Examination for the Associateship

ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSICS
For 2nd, 3rd and 4th Year Physics Students

04 June 2018: 10.00 to 12.00

Answer all sections of Part A and two questions from Part B.

Marks shown on this paper are indicative of those the Examiners anticipate assigning.

General Instructions

Complete the front cover of each of the 3 answer books provided.

If an electronic calculator is used, write its serial number at the top of the front cover of
each answer book.
USE ONE ANSWER BOOK FOR EACH QUESTION.
Enter the number of each question attempted in the box on the front cover of its
corresponding answer book.
Hand in 3 answer books even if they have not all been used.
You are reminded that Examiners attach great importance to legibility, accuracy

and clarity of expression.

c Imperial College London 2018

PO2.3
1 Turn over for questions
 SECTION A
1. (i) (a) Brie y describe the following components of the Climate System: bio-
sphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. Describe at least one way in which

each component can a ect (or be a ected by) climate change.

(b) Using a simple linear model, the total climate feedback parameter can
be written as
= + x: (1)
X
BB
x

Explain what is meant by total climate feedback parameter, and describe

what each of the terms on the right hand side of the above equa-
tion represent. If a typical global mean surface temperature is 285K,
and the Earth has an e ective emissivity of 0.8, calculate BB . [You
may take the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, , to be 5:67  10 8 Wm 2 K 4 .]

If after a given positive climate forcing, x x = BB , what would this

P

imply for the stability of the Earth's atmosphere?

[14 marks]
(ii) (a) How many nuclear power stations must China build to allow its 1.4bn popu-
lation the same per capita energy usage as Norway? China currently enjoys
energy use of 5,920 billion kWh per year. Norway's 5.2m people on aver-
age each use about 29,000 kW-h per year. State all assumptions clearly.
In a short set of bullet points state why this is unlikely to happen. With
reference to Robert Socolow's 'wedge analysis' (Princeton Carbon Mitiga-
tion Initiative) and with a diagram to illustrate this, estimate how many
gigatonnes carbon this could save entering the atmosphere. One 'wedge'
saves 25 gigatonnes carbon over 50 years and could result from 700GW
new nuclear installations. State all assumptions carefully (for example,
mention, but no need to attempt to quantify CO2 emitted in making the
necessary cement for their construction. You may wish to consider that
not all nuclear plants in such a scenario will be ready on the rst day.)
(b) How many windmills must the USA build to account for increase in popu-
lation up to 2040? Assume 2018 population is at 327m with total energy
use 3,911 billion kWh per year, and that it will continue growing by 5% a
year, while present personal per capita energy use will grow by 2% a year.
State all assumptions clearly. In a short set of bullet points state - refer-
ring where necessary to US manufacturing capacity and historical change
in such capacity- why this is technically feasible but may not happen.
(c) How much of the Sun's emitted power reaches Earth? The Earth orbit is
about 151m km and the Earth's orbital radius is about 6400km. The sun
emits about 3.86 x 1026 Watts. State all assumptions carefully. Estimate
the projected power requirement for the world in 2050. Estimate the total

PO2.3 2
 land area this would require were it all to be provided by solar power.
The Sahara desert has an area approaching 10m km2 . Provide a set of
assumptions (in bullet points) which one would have to make for solar
power to be able to provide all the necessary extra energy capacity needed
by the world.
[14 marks]
(iii) (a) De ne \global warming potential (GWP)" and give its value for carbon
dioxide (CO2 ) and methane (CH4 ).
(b) The CO2 emissions of the UK decreased from 561 Mt CO2 to 389 Mt
CO2 between 2000 and 2016, even though the population increased from
59 million to 66 million. Name the other three terms of the Kaya Identity
and give a reasonable explanation for the observed change in emissions
between 2000 and 2016.
(c) Describe two ways that CO2 or CH4 uxes between the terrestrial biosphere
and the atmosphere might change in the future, which would have the
e ect of intensifying climate change.
[12 marks]
[Total 40 marks]

PO2.3 3 Please turn over

 SECTION B
2. (i) (a) By considering the energy balance at the top of the atmosphere, show that
the solar constant, the average power per unit area received by the Earth,
is
S0 = (4Te4 )=(1 p ); (1)

where  is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, Te is the e ective emitting

temperature, and p is the planetary albedo. State at least two key as-
sumptions made. [5 marks]
(b) If we approximate the Earth-atmosphere system as consisting of a single
layer grey-body atmosphere (infra-red emissivity ', no scattering), over-
lying a surface which emits as a blackbody, we can express the surface
temperature TS as:
TS = [So (1 p )=(2 (2 0 ))]1=4 : (2)
By rewriting equation (2) in terms of the atmospheric optical depth,  ,
show how, qualitatively, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations will
lead to an increased surface temperature in this simple model. State any
assumptions that you make. Give two reasons why these assumptions may
not be fully realistic. [7 marks]
A visible image (SW) A mid IR image (LW)

White: highly reflective ‘surface’ White: cold ‘surface’

Black: dark ‘surface’
(ii) Black: hot ‘surface’

(a) The diagram above shows a visible (left), and infrared (right) satellite
image of the same region on Earth. Determine whether the cloud regimes
encased within the solid, and dashed circles are low-lying or high-lying,
carefully explain your reasoning. Discuss the in uence of such clouds on the
greenhouse e ect, and whether their presence would lead to a net surface
warming or cooling during the daytime relative to clear-sky conditions.
[8 marks]

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 (b) A satellite instrument measures radiance in a region of the longwave spec-
trum that is a ected by water vapour absorption. Assuming that the den-
sity of water falls exponentially with height through the atmosphere, sketch
the approximate form of the transmission to space t (z; 1) that would be
expected for the instrument as a function of z. Provide an expression for
the instrument weighting function K (z ) in terms of t (z; 1) and z and
add a sketch of K (z ) as a function of z to your diagram. What would you
expect to happen to the vertical distribution of t (z; 1) and K (z ) if the
amount of water vapour increases and why?
[5 marks]

(c) The Clausius-Clapeyron equation predicts that changes in the equilibrium

vapour pressure, deeq are related to changes in surface temperature dTs
by deeq =dTs = (eeq lv )=(Rv Ts2 ), where Rv = 461 JK 1 mol 1 is the gas
constant for water vapour, and lv = 2.5 106 JKg 1 is the latent heat
of vapourisation of water. Calculate the mean equilibrium vapour pressure
change, deeq =eeq , per degree of surface warming if the initial mean surface
temperature is 285K. Use this information to explain why we would expect
a climate model showing constant relative humidity as surface temperature
increases to have a positive water vapour feedback.
[5 marks]
[Total 30 marks]

PO2.3 5 Please turn over

 3. (i) The plot below shows the energy use trajectory of oil + gas, renewable +
nuclear, and coal in the USA between the years 1845 and 2001.
0% 100% (Nuclear + Renewable) vs
(Oil + gas) vs
coal energy use trajectory
20% 1972
80% USA 1845- 2001

40% 2001
60%
1949

1945
60% 40%
1935

80%
20%
1910 1890
100% 1885 1875
1845

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Identify and fully label each axis and brie y explain the main energy use tran-
sitions.
[8 marks]
(ii) By reference to 1949-2001 and 1890-1935, devise a simple relationship between
changes in percentage of any given source of energy and time to implement
these changes. Why is the 1910 in ection point less sharp than the one in
1972? Without necessarily citing accurate numbers, relate the historical oil
price to innovation in the energy sector.
[12 marks]
(iii) To meet the target limit on global average temperature rise of just 1.5K,
estimate the desirable rate of decarbonising the energy sector starting in 2020
and starting in 2030 and compare to historical precedents in changes to the
energy mix. You should refer to the relationship between atmospheric carbon
dioxide and temperature, and use diagrams as appropriate to illustrate your
answer. You may wish to refer to the IPCC plot relating temperature to CO2 .
Socolow's 'Wedge' analysis (Princeton Carbon Mitigation Programme) posits
that individual mitigation technologies can get to 1 Gt C/year over 50 years.

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 [10 marks]
[Total 30 marks]

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 4. The Labrador Sea is the area of the North Atlantic Ocean in between Canada and
Greenland. In summer, the potential temperature is 5 C in the surface mixed layer
of depth 100m and the potential temperature is 3.5 C below the thermocline at
depths of 100m to 800m. The salinity is 34.9 g/kg from the surface down to 800m.
Below 800m, the salinity is 35 g/kg and the potential temperature is 3.5 C.

27
6 27.1 27.5 27.6 27.7
27.8
Potential Temperature ( °C)

5 27.2

27.3
4
28
27.4
3 28.1

2 28.2
27.5 27.6 27.7
27.8
1 28.3
27.9
0
34.5 34.7 34.9 35.1 35.3 35.5
Salinity (g/kg)

(i) (a) What is the potential density of the water in the three di erent layers in
summer? Use the T-S diagram above, which shows contours of potential
density in units of kg m 3 in excess of freshwater density.
(b) What is the sign of the squared buoyancy frequency in summer, and what
does this signify?
[7 marks]
(ii) Calculate the change in heat content per unit area (in kJ m 2 ) from summer
to winter, if the winter mixed layer extends from the surface down to a depth
of 800m and has a temperature of 3 C. Assume that any heat ux is only
occurring at the surface, there are no freshwater uxes, and there is no mixing
with surrounding water. The speci c heat capacity of seawater is 4 J g 1 K 1 .
[7 marks]
(iii) Strong convection was observed in 2016 and the winter mixed layer extended
to 1600m at a temperature of 3 C, twice as deep as normal.
(a) How would anthropogenic CO2 uptake in the Labrador Sea be a ected by
the strong convection in 2016? Explain your answer.
(b) How would ocean acidity (pH) in the Labrador Sea be a ected by the
strong convection in 2016? Explain your answer.
[6 marks]
(iv) Strong convection events may become less frequent in the future as more
fresh water enters the Labrador Sea due to the melting of the Greenland Ice

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 Sheet. Consider a scenario where the winter mixed layer is only 800m, but the
heat content change in the mixed layer is the same as in 2016 when strong
convection was observed.
(a) Calculate the volume of freshwater that would need to have been added
to the Labrador Sea mixed layer in this scenario. Assume that summer
conditions are unchanged and the area of the Labrador Sea is 8.4 x 105
km2 .
(b) Compare your answer in (a) to the annual precipitation of 1.2 m yr 1 in
the Labrador Sea.
[10 marks]
[Total 30 marks]

PO2.3 9 Please turn over

 5. The Solar Cyclone Tower is composed of a greenhouse (\collector") for collecting
and storing solar energy as heat, with a central 1000m high chimney that channels
a 20 m/s updraft of surface air heated in the greenhouse. The collector is a at
circular disk, 20m high and 5km diameter. Turbines are arrayed round the base of
the chimney with radius of 100m. A tower is to be constructed in a at wind-free
desert country with incident radiation averaging 7 kW-h m 2 day 1 .

The speci c latent heat of condensation of water in the temperature range from
25 C to 40 C can be approximated by 2500 J/g. Air density at sea level can be
approximated by 1.2 kg m 3 .

!
collector

(i) (a) The temperature entropy diagram for a standard air cycle is given below.
Which leg of the cycle corresponds to the solar radiation input? Explain
what segment 3te to 3 corresponds to. Explain what segment 3te to 4
corresponds to. List in bullet points other power losses not accounted for
by this simple treatment.

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 (b) Water vapour can be made to condense in the tower. Assuming a very
humid (20g water / 1kg air) space below the collector, estimate the max-
imum possible water production in a given tower per year of operation.
State all assumptions clearly.
(c) Explain what e ect this condensation has on power production. State all
assumptions clearly. How can we maximise water extraction eciency?
[10 marks]
(ii) Scientists have proposed a new method to remove CO2 from the air as it ows
up the tower. If this method removed 10% of the CO2 , how many towers
would be needed to have an impact on the CO2 growth rate in the atmosphere
equivalent to -1 ppm yr 1 ? What would be the area of land covered with
towers, and how does this compare to the area of the UK (240,000 km2 )? You
can take the molecular weight of air to be 29 g mol 1 .
[10 marks]
(iii) It is suspected that trace amounts of benzene (C6 H6 ) are being released as a
by-product. It is proposed that the site perimeter be monitored continuously
for 8 hours using an open-path transmitter-receiver system, emitting collimated
light at 300nm, and a large-area detector located 1000m away. The speci c ab-
sorption coecient of benzene kb , is approximately 8m2 /g over the wavelength
range of interest.
(a) Write down an expression for optical depth,  in terms of transmissivity
t .
(b) If t = 0.85 for benzene at 300nm, determine the density of benzene b
(in gm 3 ) along the optical path.
(c) The legal limit for benzene exposure is 1 part per million parts of air by
volume (ppm), over an eight hour period; how does your result in part (b)
compare with this? [State any assumptions or caveats you make].
[10 marks]
[Total 30 marks]

PO2.3 11 End of examination paper