Sam Miller - Applied Thermodynamics for Meteorologists

www.cambridge.org

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107100718

My wife Virginia and daughter Julia, for patiently indulging me while I invested more than two years of my life in this book, and my parents Catherine Carter-Hancock and Edward J. Miller, who believed in me, even when the determination to do so was justifiably viewed with suspicion.

The many fine instructors who taught me at the U.S. Air Forces (USAFs) Weather Observer and Weather Forecaster Schools at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, in 1982 and 1984, such as Dr. Glenn Van Knowe (he was a technical sergeant back then), and the professors and staff at the University of New Hampshire, who helped me thrash through degrees in physics, oceanography, and Earth sciences, between 1989 and 2003.

Master Sergeant Brian Hammond, who was my boss at two USAF weather stations, and Lieutenant Colonel R. Bruce Telfeyan, who was my boss at a third weather station. Both of these gentlemen provided outstanding examples of careful, conscientious operational meteorologists who took time to mentor youngsters.

Ms. zlem Bilgin, Mr. Zeki elikba, Dr. Ahmet ztopal, and, most of all , Dr. Mikdat Kadolu of Istanbul Technical University (ITU), who helped me immensely during my sabbatical leave in Turkiye in the spring of 2012, by providing me with an office and technical support in the ITU Meteorological Engineering Department, where I wrote the first draft of this book.

ITUs Dr. Aydn Msrlolu, Dr. Sevin Srda, Dr. Ali Deniz, Dr. Selahattin ncelik, Dr. Yurdanur nal, Dr. Melike Nikbay, Dr. Bar nol, Dr. Zerefan Kaymaz, Dr. Levent aylan, and Mr. Mehmet nal for their kindness and help.

My colleagues in Plymouth State Universitys meteorology program, Dr. Jim Koermer (who also served on my PhD committee; retired now), Dr. Eric Hoffman, Dr. Lourdes Aviles, Dr. Eric Kelsey, Dr. Jason Cordeira, Dr. Joe Zabransky (retired), Dr. Lisa Doner, Mr. Anthony (Toby) Fusco, and Mr. Brendon Hoch. The majority of the content of this book began as the notes I use in the thermodynamics course they allow me to teach our undergraduates.

Ms. Marsi Wisniewski, who helped keep me on the linguistic straight and narrow. Dr. Tom Boucher of Plymouth State Universitys Mathematics Department checked my math in a few places. Dr. Dennis Machnik checked some of my physics in the first few chapters.

Four anonymous reviewers, who read six chapters of this text and made several very valuable suggestions, and my editor at Cambridge University Press, who helped me through the publication process.

Thermodynamics is the study of energy and its transformations. Several books on this subject begin with that line, or something very much like it, and I cant think of a better way to start this one. In my experiences as a student, teacher, and user of thermodynamics, Ive read several of these books, each one directed to a slightly different audience. The purpose of this book is to provide undergraduate meteorology students with a solid theoretical (physical and mathematical) basis for understanding energy and its transformations in the Earths atmosphere, and an appreciation for both the limitations and the practical usefulness of the thermodynamic models we use to describe the atmosphere. If, at the end of this book, you know where these ideas came from, what their weaknesses are, and how to apply them to your job as a working meteorologist, then you have learned what I hoped you would learn.

Its worth saying a little more about the word model . Meteorologists are physical scientists, and as such we like to use equations (models) to describe whats happening in the Earth system. This is pragmatic, because it makes it possible to do quantitative research and make weather forecasts. But some scientists forget about the differences between their models and the real objects theyre studying, and this is a mistake. A model (i.e., the physics we use) gives us a glimpse at an underlying reality, but the real atmosphere is much more complex. For example, there are no real isolated parcels, that is, there are no little packets of air that do not exchange mass or heat with their surrounding environment. This idea is just an approximation that makes it possible for us to solve the equations and make weather forecasts. Over some short period of time, it isnt a bad approximation, but its still only a simplified picture of the real atmosphere. Remember that when youre using these equations.