Abstract
Following on from the global energy balance described in the previous chapter, latitudinal energy balance is considered here. The energy balance of a zonally and vertically averaged atmosphere is described using the latitude-dependent energy balance model. The pole-to-equator temperature difference is evaluated with the energy balance model in which meridional heat transport is modeled using a diffusion coefficient. The latitudinal profiles of radiative fluxes and their balance are also described using the energy balance model. Furthermore, the possibility of multiple equilibrium states is investigated using the relation between solar flux and albedo. In the final section, a constraint on the latitudinal distribution of water vapor is argued using the balance of the latitudinal transport of water vapor.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References and suggested reading
Budyko, M. I., 1969: The effect of solar radiation variations on the climate of the earth. Tellus, 21, 611–619.
Bretherton, C. S. and Sobel, A.H., 2002: A simple model of a convectively coupled Walker circulation using the weak temperature gradient approximation. J.Climate, 15, 2907–2920.
Crowley, T. J. and North, G.R., 1991: Paleoclimatology. Oxford University Press, New York, 339 pp.
Gruber, A. and Krueger, A. F., 1984: The status of the NOAA outgoing longwave radiation data set. Bull.Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 65, 958–962.
Hartmann, D.G., 1994: Global Physical Climatology. Academic Press, San Diego, 408 pp.
Lindzen, R. S., 1990: Dynamics in Atmospheric Physics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 310 pp.
North, G.R., 1975: Theory of energy-balance climate models. J.Atmos. Sci., 32, 2033–2043.
North, G.R., Chahalan, R. F., and Coakley, J.A. Jr., 1981: Energy balance climate models. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 19, 91–121.
Oort, A.H. and Peixoto, J.P., 1983: Global angular momentum and energy balance requirements from observations. Advances in Geophys., 25, 355–490.
Oort, A.H. and Vonder Haar, T.H., 1976: On the observed annual cycle in the ocean-atmosphere heat balance over the Northern Hemisphere. J.Phys. Oceanogr., 6, 781–800.
Peixoto, P. J. and Oort, A.H., 1992: Physics of Climate. American Institute of Physics, New York, 520 pp.
Satoh, M., 1994: Hadley circulations in radiative-convective equilibrium in an axially symmetric atmosphere. J.Atmos. Sci., 51, 1947–1968.
Sellers, W.D., 1969: A global climate model based on the energy balance of the earth-atmosphere system. J.Appl.Meteorol., 8, 392–400.
Trenberth, K. E., 1979: Mean annual poleward energy transports by the oceans in the southern hemisphere. Dyn.Atmos. Oceans, 4, 57–64.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Satoh, M. (2014). Latitudinal energy balance. In: Atmospheric Circulation Dynamics and General Circulation Models. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13574-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13574-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-13573-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-13574-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)