Solar Energy Driven Convective Transport Model in the Troposphere

Abstract

Vertical, convective, thermal energy transport is examined outside the box of microscale turbulent dispersion or unstable air parcels driven by energy pockets along adiabatic trajectories. The focus is the mathematical model of the dormant, very recently discovered Carnot Compression-Expansion (CCE) cells residing in the atmosphere stratified by gravity, and the vertical gradients of pressure, temperature, and density. Two cases are analyzed in search for interactions between the CCE cells and the natural processes in the atmosphere, such as 1) the mixing-driving capacity of the horizontal wind, energizing the Carnot processes; and 2) the driver of the thermal expansion and contraction of the troposphere by periodic solar heating and self-radiation cooling of the ground. The second process is self-generated and shows a stronger vertical energy transport than the first in the troposphere, even without horizontal wind enhancement. The spatially uneven heating and cooling effects from surface and cloud variations can be conveniently analyzed with a single-column system if no net horizontal, mesoscale driving gradients are present. Conclusions are discussed from a real-world example and a numerical model.