Abstract
A key factor in the formulation of the thermal theory of cyclones was the application to atmospheric conditions of the principle of adiabatic change, and, closely related, the reinterpretation of the principle of vertical convection. Since the principle of adiabatic change, which constitutes the process of compression or expansion of a gas with no transfer of heat between gas and environment, was of such importance for Nineteenth Century cyclone theory, its development within the broader context of physics will be briefly reviewed.
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References
Comprehensive historical discussions of adiabatic change may be found in T. S. Kuhn, “The caloric theory of adiabatic compression,” Isis, 49 (1958), 132–140;
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W. M. Davis, “Ferrel’s contributions to meteorology,” Am. Met. J., 8 (1891), 348–359. Davis remarks on page 357: “I shall not here consider the special features of this theory”. The reader may find it fully stated in Ferrel’s Popular Treatise on the Winds; but a paragraph may be given to one feature of the theory that must certainly be regarded in its favor; namely, the correlation that it establishes between convectional cyclones and the general planetary circulations; for when theoretical views bring out simple relations between apparently remotely related phenomena, this may certainly be claimed to their credit. Ferrel draws a clear comparison and a sharp contrast between the general circulation and the cyclonic circulation. Both are cyclonic, inasmuch as they whirl; but one has a cold center: the other a warm center…
Sir N. Shaw, “Illusions of the upper air,” Royal Institution Evening Lecture, March 10, 1916, p. 16.
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Kutzbach, G. (1979). Early Applications of the Principles of Adiabatic Change and Vertical Convection. In: The Thermal Theory of Cyclones. Meteorological Monographs. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-80-8_2
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