Solutions to Problems from

An Introduction to Atmospheric Physics,

Second Edition,
by David G Andrews
Chapter 2
2.1. 5.3 1018 kg, 5.3 1021 J K1 , 0.035 K.
2.2. 13 m.
2.3. 14.2 km, 19.5 km.
2.4. 30.7 km.
2.5. Take a parcel whose potential temperature is the same as that of the
surrounding environment. If the parcel rises adiabatically through height z,
it retains the same potential temperature, so p1 = . However, the potential
temperature of the environment of the parcel is e1 = + z(d/dz)env .
The pressures inside and outside the parcel are assumed to be equal. Using
the ideal gas law (2.2) and the definition (2.25) of potential temperature, it
follows that the density is related to pressure and potential temperature by
=

p1 p0
.
Ra

Applying a similar argument to that in Section 2.5 gives the required stability
result.
2.6. 9.76 K km1 , 9.61 K km1 .
2.7. 9.62 min.
2.8. Taking logarithms of the expression for in solution 2.5, differentiating,
and multiplying by g gives

g d
1 dp
g d
=
g(1 )
.
dz
dz
p dz

The first term on the right is N 2 . Using the hydrostatic equation (2.12),
the ideal gas law (2.2) and the facts that 1 = 1 (Ra /cp ) = cv /cp
we then get the result. If the density decreases so slowly with height that
(g/)d/dz < g 2 /c2s we have N 2 < 0, implying static stability.
1

2.9. 2.39 109 J m2 . APE = (21 2(+1) )cp p0 /[g( + 1)].

2.10. e-folding height 2.7 km, much less than pressure scale height. Mass
of water vapour = 57 kg, giving 140 MJ of latent heat release.
2.11. Taking say T = 273 K and p = 900 hPa gives s 4 103 from Figure
2.7. Then Ls /(Ra T ) 0.13 and L2 s /(cp Rv T 2 ) 0.73, so the SALR is
about 6.4 K km1 .
2.12. LCL is at 900 hPa. Above this level, parcel follows saturated adiabatic
up to level of neutral buoyancy at 500 hPa.
2.13. 337 J.
2.14. 90.3 days, 21.7 h, 13 min. Re 105 , 102 and 10, respectively, so
Stokess Law is not necessarily valid in the third case.
2.15. (i) 0.39 K, (ii) 23 min.

Chapter 3
3.1. (ii) 5800 K, 290 K. (iii) B = 2.25 108 W m2 steradian1 Hz1 , B =
2.7 1013 W m2 steradian1 m1 , 8.6%.
3.2. (i) Both surfaces are black bodies; the temperature of S2 is sufficiently
different from T1 that it has negligible emission in the passband ; there is
no absorption or scattering between the surface elements.
(ii) Fs = 1381 W m2 . (iii) T14 a2 (independently of h). (iv) The power
absorbed by the sphere is 2T14 a2 .
3.3. The factor (1 A)(rs /d)2 = 1.5 105 , so the maximum solar spectral
irradiance 3 108 W m3 and the maximum terrestrial spectral irradiance
3 106 W m3 . The irradiance curves are much closer than the radiance
curves of Figure 3.1, especially around 4 m: see Figure 1 for an accurate
plot. The irradiance is a more practical measure of the relative importance
of the solar and terrestrial radiation in a given spectral range than is the
radiance.
3.4. (i) 235 K, (ii) Fs /, (iii) white sphere: 227 K, black sphere: 333 K.
3.5. Strong-line limit: the integrand in equation (3.60), with q = 10, is given
by the solid curve in Figure 2; the dotted curve plots 1 exp(q/x2 ), and
is almost indistinguishable from the solid curve. In the weak-line limit, the
exponent is small for all x, so the exponential can be Taylor-expanded to
2

log10 (spectral irradiance / W m-2m-1)

Figure 1: Figure for Problem 3.3.

10
6000 K

288 K

6
4
2
0
0.1

1
4 10
Wavelength / m

100

Figure 2: Figure for Problem 3.5.

1.2

Integrand

1.0
0.8
q = 10

0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-20

-10

0
x

10

20

give the required integrand, which integrates to an inverse tangent.

3.6. At = 0 , T = exp{[a lS/(L )]}. This is independent of p if the
mixing ratio a / = = constant.
2

3.7. For weak-line limit r 1 note that 1 exp(rex ) rex for all x.
3.8. Pressure 4 hPa.
3.9. Last part: p = p(z)/2.
3.10. (ii) pm = 1 hPa, h(pm ) = 21 K day1 , (iii) 280 K.
3.11. The reflection and transmission coefficients are given below.

1
10
20
30

R
T
0.4987 0.4983
0.6635 0.3305
0.7449 0.2462
0.9255

1RT
0.002 994
0.005 970
0.008 920

Chapter 4
4.1. The mean separation is (n/V )1/3 3 nm. Taking 0.3 nm, the
mean free path 200 nm. The mean free path T /p, where T is fairly
constant, but p decreases exponentially with altitude; it is of the order of
several metres at p = 104 hPa, i.e., over 100 km altitude.
4.2. First part uses (u) u + u. Physical interpretation: mass
m = V is constant following blob, so

D(V )
D m
m D
m
=
= 2
=
u = V ( u) ,
Dt
Dt

Dt

where the third equality uses the Lagrangian form of the mass conservation
law. Hence
1 D
(V ) = u ,
V Dt
as required.
4.3. See Figure 3 for trajectories. In F 0 the circle has radius 0.6R and is
Figure 3: Motion of particle in inertial and rotating frame for Problem 4.3.
Rotating frame F
2

1
y /R

y/R

Inertial frame F
2

0
-1
-2
-2

0
-1

-1

0
x/R

-2
-2

-1

0
x /R

centred at (R, 0.2R) and particles angular velocity is 2 clockwise. Putting

4

r 0 = (x0 , y 0 ) and differentiating, we can verify that

d2 r 0
dr 0
= 2
,
dt2
dt
showing that in F 0 the acceleration is balanced by a Coriolis force.
4.4. 1.5 cm.
4.5. 2 a/g 3.5 103 1. From the cosine rule, (g 0 /g)2 = 1
(2 2 ) cos2 1 2 cos2 . At equator, (g 0 /g) is about 3.5 103 less
than at the poles. If is the angle between g and g 0 , the sine rule gives
sin = 2 a cos sin /g 0 (/2) sin 2, which is maximum at = 45 ,
giving max 1.7 103 radians, or 0.1 .
4.6. Approximate values of Ro: (a) 10, (b) 104 , (c) 5 103 .
4.7. For real solutions, we need dp/dr 2 r. Overestimate.
4.8. Assume that T1 and T2 ' 280 K and v1 and v2 ' 10 m s1 , say. Then
v1 T2 v2 T1 ' (v1 v2 )T2 . So ' 0.6 .
4.9. 71 m s1 .
4.10. The completed map is given in Figure 4. This is a cyclone, so geostrophic
Figure 4: Figure for Problem 4.10.

winds blow anticlockwise, as shown by the arrows. The fronts are at the kinks
in the isobars, with the warm and cold fronts as shown. To make the connection with Problem 4.8 and Figure 4.17, imagine that in the warm front
the y-axis is along the front at the surface, towards the low-pressure centre,
and the x-axis points roughly towards the north-east. The x-component of
5

wind is continuous across the front, but the y-component is discontinuous,

and is larger on the cold side, consistent with Problem 4.8. (In fact it is
positive on the cold side and negative on the warm side.) For the cold front
the y-axis points away from the low-pressure region and the x-axis points
roughly north-westwards.
4.11. Warm sector, mean temperature ' 272 K. 75 m s1 .

Chapter 5
5.1. The expression for u follows from simple geometry. Then = vx uy =
(V x/r)x + (V y/r)y = x(V /r)x + y(V /r)y + (2V /r) and use of f (r)/x =
f 0 (r)(r/x) = xf 0 (r)/r and a similar expression for the y-derivative gives
the result.
5.2. (a) 10 km, (b) 100 km.
5.3. Period ' 120 min, time taken ' 480 min, X ' 2.3 km, Z ' 115 m.
5.4. Minimum
p angular frequency = f0 . Horizontal wavelength = 2/k =
2NB /(|m| 2 f02 ), larger than 2NB /(|m|) for internal gravity waves.
5.5. P /K = ( 2 f02 )/( 2 + f02 ).
5.6. 2.6 days.
5.7. (a) 13 000 km, (b) 23 000 km. Length of latitude circle at 60 N =
20 000 km.
5.8. Cross-isobar flow is towards low pressure, in general. With h = 1 km,
5 m2 s1 . w 3 mm s1 . The direction of stress is 45 anticlockwise
from up , magnitude 0.07 N m2 .
5.9. 2.7 m s1 .
5.10. Angle = 7.4 104 radians.
5.11. 1.11 days, 3500 km, 2300 km.

Chapter 6
6.1. For one mole, reaction requires NA h 500 kJ, so 1.26 1015 Hz
and wavelength = c/ 238 nm.
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6.2. The change of Gibbs free energy is + 72.1 kJ mol1 , so reaction cannot
take place spontaneously.
6.3. Equation (6.7) gives [A] = [B] 0 , where 0 = [B]0 [A]0 . Then
substituting for [B], we get
Z
Z
d[A]
= kAB dt .
[A] ([A] + 0 )
Using partial fractions, integrating, and using initial conditions gives

[A]
[A]0
[A]
=
=
exp (0 kAB t) z , say ,
[B]
[A] + [B]0 [A]0
[B]0
and so

z
([B]0 [A]0 ) .
1z
But z 1 since [B]0 [A]0 , and [B] [B]0 , so equation (6.8) follows.
[A] =

6.4. Ps = 6.1 1021 photons m2 s1 . (i) 0.56, (ii) 4 103 , (iii) 1.7 103 .
6.5. From Figure 1.3, take T = 220 K and p = 30 hPa. From Table 2.1
[O3 ] = 0.21[M], where [M] is the number density of the air, equal to p/(kB T )
by equation (2.6). Putting numbers into equation (6.16) gives [O3 ] 2
1019 m3 , significantly greater than the maximum in Figure 1.4. Catalytic
cycles and transport may reduce this in the real atmosphere.
6.6. The Chapman scheme is modified by including a term k4 [X][O3 ] on
the right of equation (6.12a) and a term k5 [XO][O] on the right of (6.12b).
Reactions (6.17) give two further equations,
[X]
[XO]
= k4 [X][O3 ] + k5 [XO][O] =
.
t
t
In equilibrium, set all time derivatives to zero. Equation (6.15) is found to
hold (approximately) as before, but elimination of [O] now gives a quadratic
equation for the ratio [O3 ]/[O2 ]. The required approximate solution holds
provided that k4 is small enough. The catalytic reactions decrease this ratio
compared with the Chapman scheme.
6.7. O decays rapidly (on a time scale of a few seconds) after sunset, the
amount of O3 stays close to its sunset value. X decays, XO tends to a constant
amount.
6.8. Consider a fixed box of volume V . The net rate of inflow of molecules A
is ([A]u)V , and this must equal the rate of increase of these molecules
in the box, ([A]V )/t. Cancel the (fixed) volume V .
7

6.9. Given n ozone molecules in volume V at temperature T , we have pV =

nkB T by the ideal gas law (2.6). By definition, 1 DU corresponds to a column
of height 105 m and horizontal cross-sectional area 1 m2 , so put V = 105 m3 .
Also p = 105 Pa (1 atm) and T = 273 K. This gives required answer.

Chapter 7
7.1. Let R = a + d and let 2L be longest limb path for shaded region in
Figure 5. By Pythagoras we have L2 = R2 a2 2ad, since d a. Ratio
Figure 5: Figure for Problem 7.1.

of masses is 2L/d, giving result. This is about 72 for d = 10 km.

7.2. LTE implies that J = B , the Planck function. If the surface is a
black body, L0 = B (Tg ). In (3.13), replace the path length s by height
z and remember that is the optical height here, not the optical depth.
Let s , corresponding to the satellite being effectively at infinite height.
Then (3.13) gives
Z ()
L() =
B()e(()) d + B(Tg )e() ,
0

where the subscript has been dropped for clarity and is used as the
dummy variable instead of 0 . Also
Z
T (z, ) = exp
k(z 0 )a (z 0 ) dz 0 = e(z)()
z

from (3.23), and so

T (z, )
= k(z)a (z)T (z, ) .
z
8

Changing the integration variable from to z (using d = ka dz, from

equation (3.11)) then gives equation (7.1).
7.3. (a) This is a water-vapour rotation band, indicating the presence of
water vapour in the atmosphere. (b) This is the CO2 vibrationrotation
band. (c) North pole: surface temperature ' 140 K (the freezing temperature
of CO2 ), atmospheric temperature approaches a constant 190 K higher up.
South pole: surface temperature ' 190 K, lower atmosphere ' 230 K, upper
atmosphere (spike in spectrum) 190230 K. Midlatitudes: surface ' 280 K,
decreasing to 180 K in the upper atmosphere. (d) The terrestrial spectrum
is more complicated, indicating the presence of more absorbers. The Earth
has a warmer surface and atmosphere.
7.4. Transmittance = 0.53. One can calculate the column ozone from this,
if the extinction coefficient is both known and constant.
7.5. Transmittance = 0.9. Spectral radiance deficit = 4.8 1014 W m2
steradian1 Hz1 . Temperature error = 0.9 K.
7.6. (a) = 1, = k/g, (b) = 2, = SL0 /[2g( 0 )2 p0 ], (c) = 1,
= 2[SL0 /( 2 gp0 )]1/2 .
7.7. pm = 1/ , pressure width = (2.681/ 0.231/ )pm . Case (b) is narrower.
7.8. From dispersion relation, ck/ = (1 + (p /ck)2 )1/2 . But 2 p2
implies (p /ck)2 1, and so
p2
ck
1 2 2 ,

2c k
giving required result.
7.9. The electric field vectors of the incoming, reflected and transmitted
waves are all in the same (horizontal) direction. Normalise with respect to
the incoming wave, so that the three waves are given by
Ei = ei(tm1 z) ,

Er = Aei(t+m1 z) ,

Et = ei(tm2 z) ,

(real parts understood), where = cm1 /N1 = cm2 /N2 and c is the speed
of light in a vacuum. Then the boundary conditions at the interface (E and
E/z both continuous at z = 0, where E is the total electric field) give
1+A=B

and m1 (1 A) = m2 B .

Eliminating B and m1 /m2 gives A = (N1 N2 )/(N1 + N2 ). Then R is the

ratio of the incoming and reflected Poynting vectors and equals |A|2 . When
N1 and N2 are both 1, the denominator can be replaced by 4.
9

7.10. Integrating the hydrostatic equation (2.12) w.r.t. z and using the ideal
gas law (2.2), we get
Z zm
g
(z 0 ) dz 0 = p(z) p(zm ) = Ra [(z)T (z) (zm )T (zm )] ,
z

and this can be rearranged to give the required solution. (zm )T (zm ) is
proportional to p(zm ) and so 0 as zm .

Chapter 8
8.1. GHE = (F0 Tt4 ) (T 1 1). Values of Tg and GHE are:
Tt = 245 K:
T
0.1
0.2
0.3

Tg /K
315
287
275

GHE/W m
321
143
83

Tt = 225 K:
T
0.1
0.2
0.3

Tg /K
373
323
300

GHE/W m2
852
379
221

Comment: for each T , both Tg and GHE are larger for the lower value of Tt .
8.2. Optical depths of the two gases add ( = 1 +2 ) so total transmittance
T = exp() = exp(1 )exp(2 ) = T1 T2 and total GHE (T1 T2 )1
1. This exactly equals (T11 1) + (T21 1) only when T1 = T2 = 1. Putting
Ai = 1 Ti , where the As are both small, we get equality to first order in
the As.
8.3. Substituting in equation (8.11) we get

F1 et/ et/t0
0
T =
.
1
C
t1
0
Given /t0 = 20, this is maximum when t/ = ln(20)/19 = 0.16. Maximum value of T 0 /F1 = 0.043. Figure 8.2(c) plots 20T 0 /F1 . Maximum
temperature response = 0.9 K.
8.4. Put T 0 = Im (Aeit ), where the complex number A = aei and sin t =
Im (eit ), to get
a = |A| =

F2 /
F2
=
,
2 + 2 C 2
1 + 2 2
10

= tan1 ( ) .

 = 30 years, and 2/ = 11 years give = 17.1. With F2 = 0.12 W m2 ,

0
a = 7 103 K and = 87 . Equilibrium response is Teq
= (F2 /) sin(t);
actual response is about 17 times smaller in amplitude than this.
8.5. (a) Putting = 2 in equation (8.24) we get F2CO2 = 3.7 W m2 .
(b) = 2.6 102 W m2 year1 , with doubling in about 140 years and
increase from 385 to 550 ppmv in 71.5 years.
(c) From Section 8.4.1, BB = 3.8 W m2 K1 , so climate sensitivity S =
F2CO2 /BB = 0.97 K, and FRT = C/BB = 32.6 years.
(d) In the model, S = 3 K implies = 1.23 W m2 K1 and =25.7 years.
The non-black-body feedbacks have reduced from 3.8 to 1.23 W m2 K1 ,
implying the presence of at least some significant positive feedbacks, in the
sense of Section 8.4.2.
(e) Range of = (0.615, 1.845) W m2 K1 , so range of S = (2.0, 6.0) K
and range of = (17.2, 51.6) years. Note that symmetric uncertainty in
about the nominal value implies asymmetric uncertainty in S and , with
a greater range of uncertainty above their nominal values.
8.6. Equations (8.19) and (8.20) give
Teqm
x
=
g(x)
=
T 0 (t1 )
x 1 + ex

where x =

t1
.

(1)

g(x) is plotted in Figure 6: it implies that Teqm is just a little larger than
Figure 6: The function g(x) defined in equation (1).
5

g(x)

4
3
2
1
0
5

10
x = t1 /

15

20

T 0 (t1 ) if t1 (cf. solid curve in Figure 8.3(b)), but otherwise T 0 (t1 ) is a

11

significant underestimate of Teqm (cf. the dotted and dashed curves in Figure
8.3(b)).
Times in years to reach 90% and 99% of the equilibrium temperature:
90% 99%
10 74
97
30 109 178
70 199 360

8.7. (a) Albedo A varies from high values at low temperatures (ice-covered,
snowball Earth) and low values at higher temperatures (ice-free Earth).
(b) Using (Fs /4)(1 A) = 0.6 T 4 (where Fs is the TSI) at the cold end
(A = 0.6) gives T1 = 252 K and at the warm end (A = 0.3) gives T3 = 290 K.
An accurate plot is given in Figure 7. A rough sketch is sufficient, and makes
Figure 7: Plot of F and F for Problem 8.6.
300

F / W m-2

250

200

150

100
240 250 260 270 280 290 300
T/K

it clear that there is an intermediate solution T2 as well.

(c) We have

dQ
Fs dA
=
+ 2.4 T 3 ;
dT
4 dT
this is clearly > 0 at T1 and T3 , where dA/dT = 0, implying stability. The
slopes of the curves in the sketch show that dF /dT > dF /dT at T2 , so
=

12

 < 0, implying instability there: we can define an ice-albedo feedback

parameter A = (Fs /4)(dA/dT ), and this is negative at T2 , implying positive
feedback there, in the sense of Section 8.4.2.
8.8. D(T ) = T T , D0 (T ) = 1T 1 , so D is maximum at T = 1/(1) ,
giving required Dmax . Putting = eu gives Dmax in terms of u. When u
is replaced by u, the two exp terms in the expression for Dmax swap
over, so Dmax changes sign, i.e. it is an odd function of u. Expand eu =
1 u + (u2 /2) + ... as far as the term in u2 , then use {u/(u + u2 /2 + ...)} =
(1 + u/2 + ...)1 = 1 + u/2 + ... for small u. The exponential of this is
e1 eu/2 = e1 (1 + u/2 + ...). The other exponential is e1 (1 u/2 + ...), so
Dmax = e1 (u + ...), as required. Since Dmax is an odd function of u there
can be no term in u2 in its expansion, and the next term must be of order
u3 .
8.9. As a rough estimate, approximate the area under the curves in Figure
8.6(b) by two triangles, each of height 3 W m2 THz1 and base 2 THz, giving
A = 6 W m2 . Cf. the value of 5.3 W m2 given in equation (8.24).

13