The Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere

Abstract ATM-9423233 Ou, Hsien W. Columbia Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Title: The Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere The proposal id submitted for consideration as Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) because it contains noval ideas that need to be tested and which, if proven true, would significantly enhance our understanding of the climate. The proposed research continues the development of a climate theory based on an hypothesis of Lorenz (1960) that the turbulent wind velocity is the maximum allowed in the earth's atmosphere. As turbulence efficiently mixes properties that are conserved with fluid motions, it is further hypothesized that the earth's climate may approach the maximally mixed state characterized by a minimum number of degrees of freedom. To test this hypothesis, the theory thus seeks to derive this climatic state that is consistent with balance requirements imposed by fundamental conservation laws. The proposed research here constitutes the part of the theory that derives the atmosphere structure. Although this structure may not be uniquely determined without full closure of the system, it is nevertheless demonstrated that, even without such considerations, the model atmosphere is sufficiently constrained that it resembles the observed atmosphere, including its division into dominant air masses and the distribution of the zonal mean wind. The theory thus provides a plausible explanation of the general circulation of the atmosphere that is logically closed, i.e. essentially free of empirical constraints.