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Weather & Climate

EXERCISES

for

NINTH EDITION

Solutions for Greg Carbone 1 / 4

1Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere

• Height (km) % of atmosphere above

22.4 6.25

16.8 12.5

11.2 25

5.6 50

• & 3.

• 25% 250 mb

58.4% 584 mb

• 210 mb
• 123 mb 58.4%

69 mb 33% 3 2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34

0102030405060708090 100

Height Above the Surface (km) Percentage of the Atmosphere Above Pressure (mb)

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

1Copyright ©2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 2 / 4

Solutions for Exercises for Weather & Climate 2 Copyright ©2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

• O<> zone absorbs solar radiation (particularly in the ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum). This

absorption leads to warming in the stratosphere.

8. 2000 4000 6000 8000 10,000

2.0°C –11°C –24°C –37°C –50°C

• & 11.
• a<> . Key West b. Key West c. Fairbanks
• S<> ee 9 above.
• Key W<> est tropopause: ~16,000 m, ~ –75°C; Fairbanks tropopause: ~10,000 m, ~ –53°C;
• The gr<> eater the average temperature, the higher the tropopause. Our example suggests that vertical mixing is greater

when temperature is warmer.

• 170 mb
• 92 mb
• Be<> cause of greater air density in the lower layer, the pressure drop between 2 and 4 km is nearly double that between 8

and 10 km.

• 182 mb
• A<> ir pressure decreases with height because there is less atmosphere to exert downward force. The pressure drop will be

greatest when air density is highest because the mass of the atmosphere above decreases at a faster rate.

• C<> alifornia desert: 1003.9 mb; Michigan UP: 1018.6 mb; New Brunswick: 1003.7 mb.

2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000

-80 -60 -40 -20 02 04 0

Key West Fairbanks standard atmosphere 3 / 4

3Copyright ©2016 Pearson Education, Inc.Lab 1 Solutions

• The M<> ichigan and New Orleans stations have the same pressure (1018.6 mb), but a 30°F temperature difference. The

New Brunswick and southern California stations have similar low pressures (1003.7 mb and 1003.9 mb), but a 30°F temperature difference.

• The ide<> al gas law shows that pressure is proportional to the product of density times temperature. Therefore, to have a

similar pressure, but be 30°F warmer, New Orleans must have a lower density.

• The M<> ichigan and New Brunswick stations have higher air density than the other two.
• The 1.4 g/kg mixing ratio in Fairbanks is considerably smaller than that at the surface of Key West (16 g/kg) on

the same day. In fact the surface moisture value at Fairbanks is as low as the mixing ratio value 10 km above Key West.

• The a<> tomic weight of hydrogen equals 1; the atomic weight of oxygen equals 16. Therefore, the atomic weight of H

2O is 1 g/mol + 1 g/mol +16 g/mol = 18 g/mol.

• The s<> olution to the previous question shows that water vapor, at 18 g/mol, is lighter than dry air (28.6 g/mol).

26.

27.• • • • • •

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400 Carbon dioxide concentrations (ppm)

J F M A M J J A S O N D

390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 Carbon dioxide concentrations (ppm)

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