Part 5-1 - Meteorological Base of Atmospheric Pollution
Part 5-1 - Meteorological Base of Atmospheric Pollution
Part 5-1 - Meteorological Base of Atmospheric Pollution
This reduces to
4
m dt = V dp
Case 1 Λ < Γ (subadiabatic)
• When the air parcel moves, its temperature changes more strongly than the
surrounding air because the parcel follows the adiabatic temperature profile
• If the parcel rises, it becomes colder than the surrounding air and denser will
have a tendency to sink back to its original location
• If the parcel sinks, it will heat up more than the surrounding air makes the air
parcel hotter and less dense than the surrounding air, giving it a tendency to rise
back to its original location This is called a stable atmosphere:
Case 2 Λ > Γ (subadiabatic)
• Temperature of a moving air parcel changes less than the surrounding air
• When the parcel moves up, it becomes hotter and lighter than the surrounding
air causing it to prolong its upward movement
Case 3 Λ = Γ (neutral)
• An air parcel at the same temperature as the surrounding air stays at the same
temperature as the surrounding air when it moves and has no tendency to
continue or reverse any movement
• The atmosphere is neither stable nor unstable.
5
Stability Parameter
The stability parameter (s) can be defined as the tendency of an air
parcel to accelerate against a given vertical movement (i.e., to slow it
down) per meter of that movement.
Friction is neglected
The acceleration is the result of gravitation and buoyancy If the
parcel moves up and tends to accelerate down, then s > 0
The acceleration of an air parcel in the absence of friction is the effect of
gravity, Archimedes’ law (describing the buoyant forces), and Newton’s
law (relating force to acceleration)
7
Typical calculated diurnal variation of q: (a) in summer and
winter, (b) on sunny and cloudy days, (c) on dry and wet soils,
and (d) for different albedos