Professional Documents
Culture Documents
10 points each
1. List which of these quantities is conserved under the processes described below.
(a) mixing ratio, (b) saturation mixing ratio, (c) potential temperature, (d) equivalent
potential temperature, (e) relative humidity, (f) wet bulb potential temperature.
(d,e,f ) lifting of saturated air: Theta e, Theta w conserved, RH = 100%
(a, b, e) isothermal expansion: ws (T) conserved so w conserved, regardless of whether
the parcel is saturated. If w and ws are conserved, then RH is conserved too.
( a,c, d, f) adiabatic expansion: w and theta conserved; Theta e, Theta w too.
( d, e, f ) saturated ascent in a cloud: same as lifting of saturated air
( d,f ) cooling air to its wet bulb temperature by evaporating water into it: we can get
there by lifting the parcel to its LCL and descending moist adiabatically, conserving
theta-e and theta-w. Note that w and RH are not conserved.
3. On cold, calm winter days in Fairbanks, Alaska, a shallow temperature inversion often
forms just a few tens of meters above the surface. Surface temperatures often hover
around 40C while temperatures just above the inversion are 20C higher. Under
these conditions dense ice fog often forms below the inversion over the city as a
result of the exhaust from motor vehicles and heating systems. If the pressure is 1000
hPa (a) estimate the water vapor mixing ratio at the surface. (b) If local human
activities account for half the water vapor in the air below the inversion, estimate the
relative humidity of the air just above the inversion? (20 points)
At these very low temperatures the saturation mixing ratio is very low. I read 0.13 g / kg
from the chart. The air is saturated, so 0.13 g / kg must be the actual mixing ratio as
well. If we assume that half the water vapor beneath the inversion is from local human
activities and the other half is natural and characteristic of the air mass both below and
above the inversion, then the mixing ratio above the inversion should be 0.065 g / kg
whereas reading from the chart, I get a saturation mixing ratio of about 0. 7 g / kg.
Hence, the relative humidity of the ambient air is only about 10%.
4.The updraft of a heavy thunderstorm remains fixed above a station for 103 s (about 15
min). At cloud base the density of the air is 1 kg m-3, the water vapor mixing ratio is 20 g
kg-1 and the updraft velocity is 1 m s-1. Estimate the depth of the rainfall over this period,
assuming that all the water entering the base of the updraft in the form of water vapor
falls out as rain. (20 points)
The mass flux of water vapor into the updraft in units of kg m-2 s-1 is equal to the air
density times the specific humidity q (in dimensionless units) times the updraft velocity.
It is always allowable to use mixing ratio w as a very close approximation of q. Hence,
the upward mass flux into the cloud is 1 kg m-3 x 0.02 x 1 m s-1 = 0.02 kg m-2 s-1. Over a
period of 1000 s the updraft will deliver 20 kg of water per square meter, all of which is
assumed to fall out as precipitation. If a 1 square meter column of water i m deep has a
mass of 103 kg (i.e., the density of liquid water), then 20 kg of water corresponds to a
depth of 20 mm or 2 cm (almost an inch), which is quite impressive for a rainfall event
lasting only 15 minutes. Well encounter more problems like this one in the cloud
microphysics chapter.
5. Calculate the wavelength of stationary gravity waves induced by the flow of air over
rough terrain under the following conditions. The lapse rate is isothermal, the air
temperature is 0C, and the wind speed is 30 m s-1. (20 points)
The period of the waves is given by the Brunt Vaisala frequency N. On the whiteboard, I
provided you with the formula N 2 = (gamma sub d minus gamma) x (g/T). Substituting
numerical values, we obtain N 2 = 9.8 x 10-3 x 9.8 / 273 = 3.52 x 10-4 ; N = 0.0188*; and
the period P = 2 pi / N = 334 s. Since the wave is stationary, the wavelength L is simply
the distance traveled by an air parcel passing through the wave during a time interval of
one period; i.e., L = PU = 30 m s-1 x 334 s = 10.0 km.
*When you take square roots in problems like this one, be sure to write the number that youre taking the
square root of so that the exponent of the 10 is divisible by 2.