HR: 09:00h
AN: A41E-05 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: A Thermodynamically General Theory for Convective Circulations and Vortices
AU: * Renno, N O
EM: nrenno@umich.edu
AB: Convective circulations and vortices are common features of atmospheres that absorb low-entropy-energy at higher temperatures than they reject high-entropy-energy to space. These circulations range from small to planetary-scale and play an important role in the vertical transport of heat, momentum, and tracer species. Thus, the development of theoretical models for convective phenomena is important to our understanding of many basic features of planetary atmospheres. A thermodynamically general theory for convective circulations and vortices is proposed. The theory includes irreversible processes and quantifies the pressure drop between the environment and any point in a convective updraft. The article's main result is that the proposed theory provides an expression for the pressure drop along streamlines or streamtubes that is a generalization of Bernoulli's equation to convective circulations. We speculate that the proposed theory not only explains the intensity, but also shed light on other basic features of convective circulations and vortices.
DE: 1610 Atmosphere (0315, 0325)
DE: 3307 Boundary layer processes
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting