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Approximations for the Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of High-Temperature Air

The thermodynamic and transport properties of high-temperature air are found in closed form starting from approximate partition functions for the major components in air and neglecting all minor components. The compressibility, enthalpy, entropy, the specific heats, the speed of sound, the coefficients of viscosity and of thermal conductivity, and the Prandtl numbers for air are tabulated from 500 degrees to 15,000 degrees Kelvin over a range of pressure from 0.0001 to 100 atmospheres. The energy of air and the mol. fractions of the major components of air can be found from the tabulated values for compressibility and enthalpy. It is predicted that the Prandtl number for fully ionized air, which is in complete equilibrium, will become small compared to unity, the order of 0.01, and this implies that boundary layers in such flow will be very transparent to heat flux.

Hansen, C. Frederick↗

Recent variations of sea ice and air temperature in high latitudes

A gridded sea-ice database, for which the record length is now approaching four decades for the Arctic and two decades for the Antarctic, is summarized here. The sea-ice fluctuations derived from the dataset are characterized by temporal scales of several seasons to several years and spatial scales of 30-180 deg of longitude. The ice data are examined in conjunction with air temperature data for evidence of recent climate change in the polar regions. The arctic sea-ice variations over the past several decades are compatible with the corresponding air temperatures, which show a distinct warming that is strongest over northern land areas during the winter and spring. Statistically significant decreases of the summer extent of arctic ice are apparent in the sea-ice data, and new summer minima have been achieved three times in the past 15 years. There is no significant trend if ice extent in the Arctic during winter or in the Antarctic during any season.

Chapman, William L.↗

Apparatus and method for generating large mass flow of high temperature air at hypersonic speeds

A description is given of tests performed in the Mach number 8 to 10 regime to generate high temperature air at hypersonic speeds. The test flow was obtained by pressuring a ceramic lined storage tank with air to a pressure of about 100 to 200 atm. The air is heated to temperatures of 7,000 R to 8,000 R prior to introduction into the tank by passing air through an electric arc heater. The air cools to 5,500 R to 6,000 R while in the tank and then it is rapidly released through a Mach number 8 to 10 nozzle. Cold air or hot driver gas under pressure is injected simultaneously with the release of pressurized hot air and regulated to enter the tank at the same rate the hot air is leaving. This holds pressure in the tank constant during the test. Alternatively, the driver gas is introduced into the tank prior to the discharge of the hot air to increase the pressure in the tank and permit tests at higher pressures than can be handled by the arc heater.

Boatright, W. B.↗

Global surface air temperatures - Update through 1987

Data from meteorological stations show that surface air temperatures in the 1980s are the warmest in the history of instrumental records. The four warmest years on record are all in the 1980s, with the warmest years in the analysis being 1981 and 1987. The rate of warming between the mid-1960s and the present is higher than that which occurrred in the previous period of rapid warming between the 1880s and 1940.

Hansen, James↗

Emissions of an AVCO Lycoming 0-320-DIAD air cooled light aircraft engine as a function of fuel-air ratio, timing, and air temperature and humidity

A carbureted aircraft engine was operated over a range of test conditions to establish the exhaust levels over the EPA seven-mode emissions cycle. Baseline (full rich production limit) exhaust emissions at an induction air temperature of 59 F and near zero relative humidity were 90 percent of the EPA standard for HC, 35 percent for NOx, and 161 percent for CO. Changes in ignition timing around the standard 25 deg BTDC from 30 deg BTDC to 20 deg BTDC had little effect on the exhaust emissions. Retarding the timing to 15 deg BTDC increased both the HC and CO emissions and decreased NOx emissions. HC and CO emissions decreased as the carburetor was leaned out, while NOx emissions increased. The EPA emission standards were marginally achieved at two leanout conditions. Variations in the quantity of cooling air flow over the engine had no effect on exhaust emissions. Temperature-humidity effects at the higher values of air temperature and relative humidity tested indicated that the HC and CO emissions increased significantly, while the NOx emissions decreased.

Meng, P. R.↗

Asymmetry in the Seasonal Cycle of Zonal-Mean Surface Air Temperature

At most latitudes, the seasonal cycle of zonal-mean surface air temperature is notably asymmetric: the length of the warming season is not equal to the length of the cooling season. The asymmetry varies spatially, with the cooling season being ∼40 days shorter than the warming season in the subtropics and the warming season being ∼100 days shorter than the cooling season at the poles. Furthermore, the asymmetry differs between the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we show that these observed features are broadly captured in a simple model for the evolution of temperature forced by realistic insolation. The model suggests that Earth's orbital eccentricity largely determines the hemispheric contrast, and obliquity broadly dictates the meridional structure. Clouds, atmospheric heat flux convergence, and time-invariant effective surface heat capacity have minimal impacts on seasonal asymmetry. This simple, first-order picture has been absent from previous discussions of the surface temperature seasonal cycle.

seasonal cycle↗

Asymmetry in Subseasonal Surface Air Temperature Forecast Error with Respect to Soil Moisture Initialization

Soil moisture (W) helps control evapotranspiration (ET), and ET variations can in turn have a distinct impact on 2-m air temperature (T2M), given that increases in evaporative cooling encourage reduced temperatures. Soil moisture is accordingly linked to T2M, and realistic soil moisture initialization has, in previous studies, been shown to improve the skill of subseasonal T2M forecasts. The relationship between soil moisture and evapotranspiration, however, is distinctly nonlinear, with ET tending to increase with soil moisture in drier conditions and to be insensitive to soil moisture variations in wetter conditions. Here, through an extensive analysis of subseasonal forecasts produced with a state-of-the-art seasonal forecast system, this nonlinearity is shown to imprint itself on T2M forecast error in the conterminous United States in two unique ways: (i) the T2M forecast bias (relative to independent observations) induced by a negative precipitation bias tends to be larger for dry initializations, and (ii) on average, the unbiased root-mean-square error (ubRMSE) tends to be larger for dry initializations. Such findings can aid in the identification of forecasts of opportunity; taken a step further, they suggest a pathway for improving bias correction and uncertainty estimation in subseasonal T2M forecasts by conditioning each on initial soil moisture state.

Air Temperature↗

Air temperature measurement

A coupled pair of identical film-mounted spherical bead thermistors serve as air temperature sensors aboard both Balloons 8-a and 8-b. The 8-a payload was reeled downward approximately 200 m beneath the balloon. The thermistor mounts were arranged in such a way so that when solar radiation was incident in a direction which was perpendicular to one film, then the direction of the incident solar ray was parallel to the second film. As the payload rotated during the flight (its rotation rate relative to the earth's magnetic field was sensed by a magnetometer), the temperature of each sensor varied depending on the orientation of the film surfaces with respect to the sun.

Ballard, H. N.↗

A review of reaction rates in high temperature air

The existing experimental data on the rate coefficients for the chemical reactions in nonequilibrium high temperature air are reviewed and collated, and a selected set of such values is recommended for use in hypersonic flow calculations. For the reactions of neutral species, the recommended values are chosen from the experimental data that existed mostly prior to 1970, and are slightly different from those used previously. For the reactions involving ions, the recommended rate coefficients are newly chosen from the experimental data obtained more recently. The reacting environment is assumed to lack thermal equilibrium, and the rate coefficients are expressed as a function of the controlling temperature, incorporating the recent multitemperature reaction concept.

Park, Chul↗

The Potential Impact of CO2 and Air Temperature Increases on Krummholz's Transformation into Arborescent Form in the Southern Siberian Mountains

Trees in the southern Siberian Mountains forest-tundra ecotone have considerably increased their radial and apical growth increments during the last few decades. This leads to the widespread vertical transformation of mat and prostrate krummholz forms of larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb) and Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour). An analysis of the radial growth increments showed that these transformations began in the mid-1980s. Larch showed a greater resistance to the harsh alpine environment and attained a vertical growth form in areas where Siberian pine is still krummholz. Upper larch treeline is about 10 m higher than Siberian pine treeline. Observed apical and radial growth increment increases were correlated with CO2 concentration (r = 0.83-0.87), summer temperatures (r = 0.55-0.64), and "cold period" (i.e. September-May) air temperatures (r = 0.36-0.37). Positive correlation between growth increments and winter precipitation was attributed to snow cover protection for trees during wintertime.

Kharuk, V. I.↗

Global circuit response to seasonal variations in global surface air temperature

Comparisons are made between the seasonal behavior of the global electrical circuit and the surface air temperature for the Tropics and for the globe. Positive correlations between global circuit parameters and temperature are identified on both semiannual and annual timescales. Lightning is the global circuit quantity found most responsive to temperature, with a sensitivity of the order of 10% per 1 C. These findings lend further validity to the use of global circuit measurements as a diagnostic for global change.

Williams, Earle R.↗

Evidence of Lunar Phase Influence on Global Surface Air Temperatures

Intraseasonal oscillations appearing in a newly available 20-year record of satellite-derived surface air temperature are composited with respect to the lunar phase. Polar regions exhibit strong lunar phase modulation with higher temperatures occurs near full moon and lower temperatures at new moon, in agreement with previous studies. The polar response to the apparent lunar forcing is shown to be most robust in the winter months when solar influence is minimum. In addition, the response appears to be influenced by ENSO events. The highest mean temperature range between full moon and new moon in the polar region between 60 deg and 90 deg latitude was recorded in 1983, 1986/87, and 1990/91. Although the largest lunar phase signal is in the polar regions, there is a tendency for meridional equatorward progression of anomalies in both hemispheres so that the warning in the tropics occurs at the time of the new moon.

Anyamba, Ebby↗

Antarctic Sea ice variations and seasonal air temperature relationships

Data through 1987 are used to determine the regional and seasonal dependencies of recent trends of Antarctic temperature and sea ice. Lead-lag relationships involving regional sea ice and air temperature are systematically evaluated, with an eye toward the ice-temperature feedbacks that may influence climatic change. Over the 1958-1087 period the temperature trends are positive in all seasons. For the 15 years (l973-l987) for which ice data are available, the trends are predominantly positive only in winter and summer, and are most strongly positive over the Antarctic Peninsula. The spatially aggregated trend of temperature for this latter period is small but positive, while the corresponding trend of ice coverage is small but negative. Lag correlations between seasonal anomalies of the two variables are generally stronger with ice lagging the summer temperatures and with ice leading the winter temperatures. The implication is that summer temperatures predispose the near-surface waters to above-or below-normal ice coverage in the following fall and winter.

Weatherly, John W.↗

The relationship of air temperature variations over the northern hemisphere during the secular and 11-year solar cycles

A comparison was made of air temperature anomaly maps for the months of January and July against a background of high and low secular solar activity, with and without regard for the 11 year cycle. By comparing temperature variations during the 11 year and secular cycles, it is found that the 11 year cycle influences thermal conditions more strongly than the secular cycle, and that temperature differences between extreme phases of the solar cycles are greater in January than in July.

Ryzhakov, L. Y.↗

Using a Simple Water Balance Framework to Quantify the Impact of Soil Moisture Initialization on Subseasonal Evapotranspiration and Air Temperature Forecasts

Past studies have shown that accurate soil moisture initialization can contribute significant skill to near-surface air temperature (T2M) forecasts at subseasonal leads. The mechanisms by which soil moisture contributes such skill are examined here with a simple water balance-based model that captures the essence of soil moisture behavior in a state-of-the-art subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecasting system. The simple model successfully transforms initial soil moisture contents into average “forecasted” ET values at 16-30 day lead that agree well, during summer, with the values forecasted by the full NASA GEOS S2S system, indicating that soil moisture initialization dominates over forecasted meteorology in determining ET fluxes at subseasonal leads. When the simple model’s ET anomalies are interpreted in terms of T2M anomalies, a similar conclusion is reached for T2M: soil moisture initialization explains much (about 50% in the eastern half of the continental US) of the T2M anomalies produced by the full GEOS S2S system at 16-30 day lead, and the T2M forecasts produced by the simple model capture about half of the skill attained by the full system. The simple model’s framework is particularly conducive to an analysis of uncertainty in forecasts. Drier soils are generally found to induce larger uncertainty in ET (and thus T2M) forecasts, a result linked to the functional form relating ET to soil moisture in the simple model and verified by an analysis of the ensemble spreads within the forecasts produced by the full GEOS S2S system

Randal D Koster↗