Introduction

This presentation gives you a general and

basic overview of the weather and climate
system in terms of the processes and forcing
mechanisms that takes place in each
component and interactions among them that
determine the observed climate in time and
space; so as to provide an insight into the
physical principles involved in the climate
system.
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weather and climate system
Weather is the mix of events that happen each
day in our atmosphere including temperature,
rainfall and humidity. Weather is not the same
everywhere. Perhaps it is hot, dry and sunny
today where you live, but in other parts of the
world it is cloudy, raining or even snowing.
Everyday, weather events are recorded and
predicted by meteorologists worldwide.
http://www.eo.ucar.edu/basics/
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Note thinness of atmosphere in light blue
Earth diameter = 13,000 km
Atmosphere: 99% below 50 km, 50% below 5.5 km
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Systems theory!
A system is a assemblage of interrelated parts that work together by way of
some driving process

Processes generally have a structure that is defined by its parts and
processes. These can be represented by mathematical equations and thus
can be modelled.

Examples:
Planetary system - is a planet in space that orbits a star and that maintains
some level of dynamics between its lithosphere, atmosphere and
hydrosphere. Some planetary systems, like the Earth, can also have a
biosphere. Earth is a closed system. [Is this strictly true?]

Ecosystem - is a system that models relationships and interactions between
the various biotic and abiotic components making up a community or
organisms and their surrounding physical environment.

An abiotic environmental system - the movement of air by wind, the
weathering of rock into soil and the formation of precipitation. These
processes derive their energy directly or indirectly from the Sun's radiation
that is received at the Earth's surface.
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Simple box model system approach with values or
attributes in boxes and processes linking the boxes.
[ Limitations of direct observations. Can make predictions of
the future.]
The climate system
Is an interactive system consisting of five
major components: the atmosphere, the
hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface
and the biosphere, forced or influenced by
various external forcing mechanisms, the most
important of which is the Sun. Also the direct
effect of human activities on the climate
system is considered an external forcing.
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Role of each component of the
climate system
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1. Atmosphere

Composition and structure
the most unstable and rapidly changing part of the
system composed of mechanical mixture of different
gases, solid particles, and liquid droplets suspended
above the surface of the earth.
Gravity binds the atmospheric mass in a shallow depth
above the surface of the earth such that its density,
and therefore the atmospheric pressure decreases
with height almost a similar way. Other forces are
pressure gradient, friction and Coriolis force.

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Note thinness of atmosphere in light blue
Earth diameter = 13,000 km
Atmosphere: 99% below 50 km, 50% below 5.5 km
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1. Atmosphere..
Composition and structure
The Earths dry atmosphere is composed mainly of
nitrogen (N2, 78.1% volume mixing ratio), oxygen
(O2, 20.9% volume mixing ratio, and argon (Ar,
0.93% volume mixing ratio).
These gases have only limited interaction with the
incoming solar radiation and they do not interact
with the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth.
They do not interact with the infrared radiation
emitted by the Earth.
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1. Atmosphere
Composition and structure
However, there are a number of trace gases, such
as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous
oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3), which do absorb and
emit infrared radiation. These so called
greenhouse gases, with a total volume mixing
ratio in dry air of less than 0.1% by volume, play
an essential role in the Earths energy budget.
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1. Atmosphere
Composition and structure
The atmosphere also contains water vapor (H2O),
which is a natural greenhouse gas. Its volume mixing
ratio is highly variable, but it is typically in the order of
1%.
Because these greenhouse gases absorb the infrared
radiation emitted by the Earth and emit infrared
radiation up- and downward, they tend to raise the
temperature near the Earths surface. Water vapor,
CO2 and O3 also absorb solar short-wave radiation.
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Energy (heat) trapped at surface
(atmosphere, ocean surface and land)
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Without atmosphere?

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o
C global average, large diurnal swings
Similar to the Moons Climate

With atmosphere
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o
C global average, moderate diurnal swings
1. Atmosphere
Composition and structure
The atmospheric distribution of ozone and its role in
the Earths energy budget is unique. Ozone in the
lower part of the atmosphere, the troposphere and
lower stratosphere, acts as a greenhouse gas.
Higher up in the stratosphere there is a natural layer
of high ozone concentration, which absorbs solar
ultra-violet radiation. In this way this so-called ozone
layer plays an essential role in the stratospheres
radiative balance, at the same time filtering out this
potentially damaging form of radiation.
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Composition and structure
Beside these gases, the atmosphere also contains solid
and liquid particles (aerosols) and clouds, which
interact with the incoming and outgoing radiation in a
complex and spatially very variable manner.
The most variable component of the atmosphere is
water in its various phases such as vapour, cloud
droplets, and ice crystals. Water vapour is the strongest
greenhouse gas.
For these reasons and because the transition between
the various phases absorb and release much energy,
water vapour is central to the climate and its variability
and change.
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1. Atmosphere
The role of Atmosphere in influencing the
climate system (physical processes)
Rapid movement of water - Clouds, Rain &
Snow (Fresh Water) formation
Erosion by Water and Wind
Protection (of life and surface)
Conducts Sound
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1. Atmosphere
Other physical mechanism
Radiative processes: Solar and terrestrial energy
transfer, absorption and reflection process are
critical to the earths energy balance
Chemical composition: affects absorption or
transmission of solar radiation (aerosols, water
vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone); also act as a
condensation nuclei, enhancing clouds to form
and precipitation to fall(aerosols, dust or sulfate
particles).
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1. Atmosphere
Chemical processes: determine the atmospheric
composition, provide a link to human society, key
factor in climate. For example global warming
Dynamic processes: The global circulation play a
key role in determining distribution of
radioactively and chemically active species, cloud
formation, and exchange of heat and moisture
between the atmosphere and the oceans. Clouds
are a critical ingredient of climate .Approximately
a half of the earth is covered by cloud at any time.
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2. Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is the component of the
climate system comprising all liquid surface
and subterranean water, both fresh water,
including rivers, lakes and aquifers, and saline
water of the oceans and seas. Fresh water
runoff from the land returning to the oceans
in rivers influences the oceans composition
and circulation.

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2. Hydrosphere
The oceans cover approximately 70% of the
Earths surface. They store and transport a
large amount of energy and dissolve and store
great quantities of carbon dioxide. Their
circulation, driven by the wind (wind stress)
and by density contrasts caused by salinity
and thermal gradients (the so-called
thermohaline circulation), is much slower than
the atmospheric circulation.

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2. Hydrosphere.
Density of the ocean, a function of temperature and
salinity, is much larger than of the atmosphere, and is
nearly uniform with depth, whereas the density of
atmosphere decreases with height.

Oceans are the earths principal time varying reservoirs
of moisture and thermal energy because of its large
heat capacity. 90% of solar radiation reaching the
ocean surface is absorbed, 50% in the upper 5 m and
the rest penetrates to deeper levels.
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3. Cryosphere
They vary seasonally and inter-annually, causing
large annual variations in continental heating and
upper ocean mixing and also in energy exchange
between the surface and the atmosphere.
The large continental ice sheets do not change
rapidly enough to cause regional and annual
climatic anomalies, but play a major role in
climatic changes during hundreds to thousands of
years.
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3. Cryosphere
The cryosphere, including the ice sheets of Greenland and
Antarctica, continental glaciers and snow fields, sea ice and
permafrost, derives its importance to the climate system from
its high reflectivity (albedo) for solar radiation, its low
thermal conductivity, its large thermal inertia and, especially,
its critical role in driving deep ocean water circulation.

Because the ice sheets store a large amount of water,
variations in their volume are a potential source of sea level
variations.

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4. The land surface
Approximately 30% of the earth surface is land, the
lower boundary of the atmosphere.

It include slowly changing extent, position, and
orographic features of the continent; and more
varying characteristics of lakes, rivers, soil
moisture and vegetation.

Land surface also has a wide range of heterogeneity
in distribution of soil properties as well as
vegetation cover.

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4. The land surfaces
Due to its relative low heat capacity, local
thermal conditions are much more responsive
to net radiation from the atmosphere than are
oceans. For example, when wet, it can
exchange water with the atmosphere more
rapidly than the oceans because of greater
surface roughness, but when dry, it provides
no water at all the atmosphere.
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The land surfaces
Land surface albedo (fraction of reflected solar
radiation) varies with type of surface cover. Vegetation
and soils have large spectral variations of albedo, from
generally low values at the visible wavelengths to much
higher values in the near infra-red.
The land and its biomes are variable parts of the
climate on all time scales. Inclusion of the biophysics of
the energy and material exchange between the
atmosphere and the land biosphere is important to
simulation of the effects of deforestation.
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4. The land surfaces
Role of land surfaces
Land is crucial for human requirements, but it is
less important than oceans because it provides
less thermal energy storage and negligible
horizontal transport.
Land surface is more variable and changeable than
the oceans for many of the coupling processes
namely; exchange of moisture, momentum and
heat with the atmosphere.
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5. The biosphere
Vegetation and soils at the land surface
control how energy received from the Sun is
returned to the atmosphere. Some is returned
as long-wave (infrared) radiation, heating the
atmosphere as the land surface warms.
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5. The biosphere
The influence of climate on the biosphere is
preserved as fossils, tree rings, pollen and
other records, so that much of what is known
of past climates comes from such biotic
indicators.
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5. The biosphere
Role of biosphere
The marine and terrestrial biospheres have a major
impact on the atmospheres composition. The biota
influence the uptake and release of greenhouse gases.
Through the photosynthetic process, both marine and
terrestrial plants (especially forests) store significant
amounts of carbon from carbon dioxide. Thus, the
biosphere plays a central role in the carbon cycle, as
well as in the budgets of many other gases, such as
methane and nitrous oxide. Find out seasonal
variations of CO2 gas in the atmosphere.
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Summary of the interactions between
the components
Atmosphere and ocean interactions:
These are two fluid components of the climate
system. Each contained organized circulation, chaotic
motions and random turbulence.
They react to perturbations on every different time
scales due to differences in their densities and heat
capacities.
Interactions between, and within them occur on many
scales and tend to be concentrated close to their
boundary as well as internally where gradients of the
physical properties such as temperature, and density
are large.

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Summary of interactions
Atmosphere and ocean interactions:
If temperature of the lower atmosphere over the
oceans departs from the surface temperature of the
oceans, vigorous exchange of heat and moisture
between the two fluids occur and temperature of the
atmosphere adjusts to that of the oceans; i.e. the
atmosphere is influenced by the ocean through
changes in sea surface (SST).
The ocean are the earths principal time varying
reservoirs of the thermal energy and moisture. The
atmosphere is much smaller reservoir because of the
differences in density between the tropospheric
atmosphere and sea water.
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Surface ocean currents
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The flow pattern of the major subsurface ocean currents is illustrated in
the figure shown below. Near surface warm currents are drawn in red,
blue color is the deep cold currents. Note how this system is continuously
moving water from the surface to deep within the oceans and back to the
top ocean.
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Land and Ocean interactions
Significant amount of thermal energy are not stored in
the land because its conductivity is much smaller than
the effective turbulent conductivity of the oceans
arising from the mixing and convection. Therefore, only
shallow layers of land are important in storing heat
while the oceans extends to an average depth of about
3,8000m.
Due to differential heating between land and oceans
because of the differences in heat capacities, see-
breeze like circulation develop such as the seasonal
monsoons.
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