Innovations by the author of

Practical Meteorology: An Algebra-based Survey of Atmospheric Science

19 January 2018.  Vancouver, Canada.



I had fun creating new toy models, derivations, and equations for this book, to allow quantitative illustration of processes and phenomena.  Here is a list of most of them, organized by section number:
  • 3.5.4.2. New eqs. (3.43 & 3.44) for vertical heat fluxes caused by moist convective adjustment when thunderstorms mix a pre-storm environment.
  • 3.5.6. New eqs. (3.49 & 3.50) for tropospheric heating rate associated with rainfall rate.
  • 3.5.7. New eq. (3.51) as a practical approximation to the Eulerian heat budget eq.
  • 4.4.2.3. New eq. (4.43b) approximation for theta_e vs. theta_w.
  • 5.2.5 (Fig. 5.3e) & 5.11 (p156 & 157) New theta-z thermo diagrams that include the isohumes and saturated adiabats.
  • 5.7.1. New "apex" method for determining static stability nonlocally.
  • 6.8.2.  New radiation fog model based on boundary layer evolution.  Includes fog formation and dissipation.
  • 7.7.2. New model for precipitation intensity-duration-frequency curves; eqs. (7.35 & 7.36).
  • 8.2.4.2. New geometric-projection method described in the "Higher Math • Info Projection" box on p239, to analyze the contribution of overlapping satellite sounder-channel weighting functions to the count of independent temperature measurements as relates to Retrieval Corollary 2. 
  • 8.3.2.1. New presentation of the radar equation (8.32) using dimensionless groups.
  • 10.5.1. New example of how winds oscillate as they approach geostrophy.
  • 10.5.3.  New model for ABL wind for statically neutral and unstable boundary layers.
  • 10.8.3.  New eqs. (10.66 - 10.71) to estimate the magnitude of vertical velocity due to Ekman pumping. 
  • 11.2.3.  New labels of major and minor Hadley cells.
  • 11.3.  New toy model (eqs. 11.1 - 11.6) for global distribution of heat, and its application to winds (eq. 11.17).
  • 11.4.  Inclusion of non-hydrostatic processes with hydrostatic processes to help explain the pressure gradients that drive the general circulation.
  • 11.7 New climatological maps of (Fig. 11.31) MSL Pressure and (Fig. 11.32) 20 kPa heights.  Names for Southern Hemisphere pressure patterns are added in Fig. 11.31, thanks to input from colleagues in Australia and S. America.
  • 12.2.1.  New theory with derivation for warm airmass genesis (see info box on p 394).
  • 13.5.2.  New approximation to the Trenberth Omega Eq is in the bottom half of the Higher Math box on p458.  Instead of approximating the RHS with a wave, I was able to use the mean-value theorem to get an approximate result of integration.  I also ignored the Laplacian on the LHS to allow an approximate solution.  I converted the final result from omega back to W, to make it easier for students to understand.  The algebraic result appears as eq. (13.28), which demonstrates the importance of vorticity advection by the thermal wind.  It allows easier comparison of eq. (13.28) with the Sutcliff Development Eq in the INFO box on p 456.
  • 13.6.1.  New illustration of how different processes affect surface pressure tendency and vertical motion.  Also, shown as new eq (13.37) is a way to use mid-tropospheric vertical motion as a mass-balance surrogate for estimating surface pressure tendency.
  • 13.6.2.  New equations approximating how rainfall rate can be used to estimate surface pressure tendency.
  • 14.4.1.  Nice demo of how students can use the trick of counting "tiles" on graph paper, to estimate the irregularly shaped CAPE area on a plotted sounding. 
  • 15.3.6.1.  New derivation for propagation of a thunder shock front from the original lightning strike location.
  • 15.4.2.  New toy model to allow you to use the observed condensation funnel to estimate the pressure pattern near a tornado.  See Fig. 15.36 and eq. (15.48).  It assumes that the air that rises into a wall cloud has the same thermo properties as the air being sucked into the attached tornado.
  • 15.4.8.  Another nice demo of using tiles or squares on graph paper to estimate area of an irregular shape - - helicity in this case.
  • 16.5.3. New theory (eq 16.6 & subsequent higher-math boxes) relating tangential wind speed to warmth of the hurricane core.
  • 16.6. New hurricane toy model for winds, temperature, and pressure. Eqs. (16.10 - 18.18) & Figs. 16.31 - 16.39.
  • 17.3.2.  New derivation in the INFO box on p651 for anabatic slope flow.  (Also works for katabatic flow.)
  • 17.5.2. New assumption that max wind speed through short mountain gaps is tied to hydraulic jumps.
  • 17.5.3.  Toy model to estimate a mesoscale pressure gradient that is superimposed on the synoptic-scale pressure gradient, which controls the wind speed through long gaps (and also for coastally trapped jets).  This avoids the unreasonable assumption that winds in mountain gaps and fjords somehow magically don't experience Coriolis force and thus can flow directly from high to low pressure.
  • 18.2.  Nice overview comparing engineering, dynamic, and thermodynamic estimates of ABL depth in the INFO box.
  • 18.4.2.2. New qualitative picture of ABL diurnal evolution in the winter.
  • 18.6.5.  New diagram relating Pasquill-Gifford turbulence types to TKE and convection. (Figs. 18.24 & 19.3)
  • 20.5.2.2. A new demo of variational data assimilation of satellite radiance data is in the Sample Application on p 767.
  • 21.4.2.2.  New toy model demonstrating ice-albedo climate feedback. including derivations in the Higher Math box on p809.
  • 22.1.2.3.  New splitting of Snells law from 3-D into separate 2-D components, and then using those component for various ice-crystal optical phenomena.



https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/books/Practical_Meteorology/
Last updated Jan 2018 by R. Stull