Atmospheric Sciences

JT Schoof, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA

2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction

The atmosphere resembles London for in both there are always far more things going on than anyone could properly attend to.
Lewis Fry Richardson

Introduction
The scope of the atmospheric sciences is the structure and behavior of the atmosphere (Figure 1). As a science, the study of the
atmosphere is grounded in observation, theory, and modeling. As a pioneer of weather forecasting, Lewis Fry Richardson knew very
well the challenges of atmospheric modeling and his quote reflects the complexity of the atmospheres behavior, which results from
interactions between the atmosphere and the other climate system components: the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the biosphere,
and the land surface. The traditional division in the atmospheric sciences has been between meteorology and climatology. The
former has historically focused on forecasting while the latter has addressed longer-term trends and variability.
Advances in observation associated with better land-based and remote sensing platforms, coupled with improved forecasting
techniques, have resulted in vast improvement in both weather and climate prediction in the past few decades. As an example, the
widespread installation of the WSR-88D Doppler Radar platform in the United States starting in the late 1980s has dramatically
improved identification of severe thunderstorms, enhanced the lead time associated with Severe Weather warnings, and excepting a
few remote regions, provided complete coverage on the contiguous US with radar coverage. At the same time, understanding of
transient systems in both the tropics and mid-latitudes (i.e., cyclones) has improved as satellite platforms have become more
specialized. Furthermore, improved observations from all platforms have been successfully blended (atmospheric scientists use the
term assimilated) into models to produce datasets and forecasts that optimally use all of the available information. While
meteorological research still relies heavily on case studies using observations, the datasets produced from data assimilation
(these are often called reanalysis products) have changed the landscape of climate research, providing serially and spatially
complete, gridded data products of standard atmospheric variables.
During the same period of time, the scientific community has increasingly focused on human impact on the environment.
In the atmospheric sciences, examples include depletion of ozone in the stratosphere (2050 km above the surface), degradation of
air quality in many urban areas, and the continuing increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases which have led to an increase in the global near-surface air temperature of approximately 0.74 C in the last
century, with accelerated warming in the last 50 years (IPCC 2007). Concerns about future environmental change have also figured
substantively into the atmospheric sciences research agenda, with increasing focus on quantifying the response of the climate
system to various forcing mechanisms, ranging from internally generated variability (for example, El Nino Southern Oscillation,
or ENSO) to volcanic eruptions and anthropogenic forcing from aerosols and greenhouse gases. The increasing use of numerical
models (General Circulation Models, or GCMs, Figures 2 and 3) to investigate these responses has drastically improved our
collective understanding of climate system behavior.
Given the challenges of these advancements, there has been substantive cross-fertilization in the subfields of atmospheric
science and most scientists are working at the intersection of the topics presented in the Earth Systems and Environmental Science
module. For example, Boundary Layer Meteorology is the study of the atmospheric layer near the Earths surface where flow is
influenced by the surface. Boundary layer meteorologists use tools that are also effective for studying Air Quality and regional
Atmospheric Transport. Similarly, atmospheric scientists studying the distant past (paleoclimatologists) often use the tools of
chemists, such as isotope analysis, to infer past climate from environmental proxies (tree rings, corals, deep sea sediments). These
tools are more fully described in the section on Paleoclimate. A full understanding of Precipitation Processes requires detailed
knowledge of cloud microphysical processes, including chemistry at the droplet formation stage.
At the largest scales, atmospheric scientists study Earth as a system. This requires quantification of the energy inputs and outputs.
The primary input to the system is solar energy, which arrives in the form of electromagnetic radiation (mostly at the wavelengths
associated with visible light). Some fraction of the energy that arrives at the top of the atmosphere is reflected back to space, while
some is absorbed by the atmosphere and the rest is transmitted to the surface. At the surface, solar radiation is generally reflected or
absorbed (transmission is possible in the upper layers of water). When absorbed, the result is an increase in surface temperature
and emission of electromagnetic radiation by the surface. Unlike solar radiation, terrestrial radiation lies within the infrared part of
the electromagnetic spectrum. In other words, the Earth receives energy in the form of light and loses energy in the form of heat.

Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.05351-3

Atmospheric Sciences

Figure 1 A limb view of earths atmosphere with the silhouette of Space Shuttle Endeavor re-entering the atmosphere. Image credit: NASA.

3-D grid box

(CO2, dust, H2Ov)

Back
radiation

Incoming
solar radiation

Mountains
Land
Ocean

Figure 2 A simplified schematic of a general circulation model (GCM). Reproduced from Ruddiman, W. F. (2008). Earths climate: Past, present, and
future. New York: Scientific American.

Some of this terrestrial radiation is absorbed by our atmosphere, producing what is commonly referred to as the greenhouse effect. The
gases responsible for atmospheric absorption of terrestrial radiation are termed greenhouse gases and include carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide, water vapor, and others. The term enhanced greenhouse effect is sometimes used to describe the augmentation of this
natural process by humans, principally via combustion of fossil fuels and interference with the natural carbon cycle from land use
change. The greenhouse effect demonstrates the link between atmospheric composition and energy transfer within the earth
atmosphere system, topics which are more fully developed in the sections on Atmospheric Gases and Radiative Transfer.
Aerosols are also central to the global energy balance and therefore global temperatures, as well as in important consideration
for Air Quality. The direct effect of aerosols is to scatter or absorb solar radiation, resulting in a net negative radiative forcing.
However, aerosols also modify clouds, and therefore have a secondary, indirect effect on the global (and regional) radiation
balance. Reducing the uncertainty associated with our understanding of the direct and indirect effects of aerosols is one of the most
important contemporary challenges in the atmospheric sciences. This topic is explored in greater detail in the sections on Aerosols,
Radiative Transfer, and Cloud Physics.
As a result of Earth-sun geometry, the amount of solar radiation arriving at the top of the atmosphere (and hence at the surface)
is not uniform across latitudes. Over the course of a year, the tropics experience a net energy gain, while the polar regions experience
a net energy loss. This net energy differential drives the general circulation of the atmosphere. The resulting Global Circulation

Atmospheric Sciences

FAR

~500

21)

km (T

SAR

~250

42)

km (T

TAR

~180

63)

km (T

AR4

~110

106)

km (T

Figure 3 The representation of Northern Europe in climate models demonstrating the increase in model resolution in the last few decades. FAR, SAR,
TAR, and AR4 refer to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, Assessment Report of the IPCC, respectively (1990, 1996, 2001, and 2007). Reproduced from Le Treut,
H., Somerville, R., Cubasch, U., Ding, Y., Mauritzen, C., Mokssit, A., et al., 2007. Historical overview of climate change. In: Solomon, S., Qin, D.,
Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M., Miller, H.L. (eds.) Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of
working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Patterns have a tremendous influence on regional climate characteristics. As a sub-discipline, Climate Dynamics focus on
atmospheric motion, especially the interactions between the atmosphere and other components of the global climate system.
Meteorological and climatological information is now being used in many applications, ranging from agricultural management
to energy demand forecasting. Use of such information in applied contexts requires a strong understanding of regional weather and
climate variability as it relates to larger scales. The subfield of Synoptic Climatology considers the local- to regional-scale climate to
be a function of both local environmental factors (physiography) and the large-scale atmospheric circulation. In many applications, atmospheric circulation patterns are objectively classified, resulting in groups of days with similar characteristics. The
regional climate can then be studied within these groups to better understand the influence of large scale circulation. These
approaches are described in the Climate Classification section.
The challenges for atmospheric science are many. Further advances in Atmospheric Science have the potential to improve our
understanding of natural hazardous weather events, such as tornadoes, cyclones (both in the tropics and mid-latitudes), floods,
droughts, and blizzards, and thereby limit the impact of these events. Climate attribution studies have now identified human influence
in observed changes in global temperature and precipitation. Understanding the complex response of the Earth-atmosphere system to
the range of natural and anthropogenic drivers of variability and change is likely to remain a key challenge in the coming decades.

Further Reading
IPCC (2007) Summary for policymakers. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, and Miller HL (eds.) Climate change 2007: The physical science
basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
Le Treut H, Somerville R, Cubasch U, Ding Y, Mauritzen C, Mokssit A, et al. (2007) Historical overview of climate change. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M,
Averyt KB, Tignor M, and Miller HL (eds.) Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ruddiman WF (2008) Earths climate: Past, present, and future, 2nd edn. New York: W.H. Freeman.