ASL734 –
Dynamics of the
Atmosphere
Lecture -6
Thermodynamic energy equation
First law of thermodynamics: The change in internal energy of the
system is equal to the difference between the heat added to the system
and the work done by the system
Let us consider a Lagrangian control volume consisting of a specified
mass of fluid as a thermodynamic system
Total thermodynamic energy of the control volume is considered to
consist of the sum of internal energy (due to the kinetic energy of the
individual molecules) and the kinetic energy due to the macroscopic
motion of the fluid
The rate of change of this total thermodynamic energy is equal to the
rate of diabatic heating plus the rate at which work is done on the fluid
parcel by the external forces
Let e be the internal energy per unit mass
Total thermodynamic energy in a Lagrangian fluid element of
density ρ and volume δV is 1
𝜌 𝑒 + 𝐔. 𝐔 𝛿𝑉
2
The rate of change in this internal energy is
equal to the heat added to the system plus
the work done on the system by the external
forces
So, we need to understand the heat added to the fluid element
and the external forces that do work on it
What are the external forces that act on this fluid volume
(assume that this is an air parcel in the atmosphere)?
The external forces that act on the fluid element are:
Pressure (F/A)
Coriolis Force
Gravitational Force
Viscous Force (we neglect it)
The rate at which force does work is given by the dot
product of the force and velocity vectors
Therefore, the work done by pressure force on the fluid element in the X
direction is
Using Taylor Series expansion
𝜕 𝑝𝑢
𝑝𝑢 𝐵 = 𝑝𝑢 𝐴 + 𝛿𝑥 + ⋯
𝜕𝑥 𝐴
Thus, the net rate at which pressure force does work due to the X component 𝛿𝑥
of motion is 𝜕 𝑝𝑢
𝑝𝑢 𝐴 − 𝑝𝑢 𝐵 𝛿𝑦𝛿𝑧 = − 𝛿𝑉
𝜕𝑥 𝐴
Similarly, the net rate of work done by pressure force in Y and Z directions are
𝜕 𝑝𝑣 𝜕 𝑝𝑤
− 𝛿𝑉 and − 𝛿𝑉
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
The total rate at which work done by the pressure force is −∇. 𝑝𝐔 𝛿𝑉
As the Coriolis force −2Ω × 𝐔 is perpendicular to velocity vector, it cannot do any
work
The rate at which gravitational force does work on the fluid element is 𝜌𝑔. 𝐔𝛿𝑉 = −𝜌𝑔𝑤𝛿𝑉
The rate at which the air parcel is heated can be written as 𝜌𝐽𝛿𝑉. Here J is the
rate of heating per unit mass due to radiation, conduction, and latent heat
release
Now, applying the principle of energy conservation to the fluid element
(neglecting the effects of molecular viscosity)
𝐷 1 𝐷(𝜌𝛿𝑉) 𝐷𝛿𝑉 𝐷𝜌
𝜌 𝑒 + 𝐔. 𝐔 𝛿𝑉 = 𝜌𝐽𝛿𝑉 − ∇. p𝐔 𝛿𝑉 − 𝜌𝑔𝑤𝛿𝑉 =𝜌 + 𝛿𝑉
𝐷𝑡 2 𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡
Apply chain rule of differentiation to the above equation, Divide by 𝜌𝛿𝑉
𝐷 1 1 𝐷(𝜌𝛿𝑉)
𝜌𝛿𝑉 𝑒 + 𝐔. 𝐔 + 𝑒 + 𝐔. 𝐔 = −𝐔. ∇p𝛿𝑉 − p∇. 𝐔𝛿𝑉 − 𝜌𝑔𝑤𝛿𝑉 + 𝜌𝐽𝛿𝑉 1 𝐷(𝜌𝛿𝑉) 1 𝐷𝜌 1 𝐷𝛿𝑉
𝐷𝑡 2 2 𝐷𝑡 = +
𝜌𝛿𝑉 𝐷𝑡 𝜌 𝐷𝑡 𝛿𝑉 𝐷𝑡
1 𝐷𝜌 1 𝐷
The Lagrangian form of continuity equation is + 𝛿𝑉 = 0
𝜌 𝐷𝑡 𝛿𝑉 𝐷𝑡
𝐷 𝜌𝛿𝑉
Using this, 𝐷𝑡
=0
𝐷𝑒 𝐷 1
𝜌 +𝜌 𝐔. 𝐔 = −𝐔. ∇p − p∇. 𝐔 − 𝜌𝑔𝑤 + 𝜌𝐽
𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡 2
𝐷𝐔 1
The momentum equation (neglecting friction), 𝐷𝑡
= −2Ω × 𝐔 − 𝜌 ∇p + 𝑔
𝐷 𝐷𝑈 𝐷𝑈
𝑈. 𝑈 = 𝑈. + .𝑈
If we take the dot product of U with the momentum equation, 𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡
𝐷𝑈
=2𝑈.
𝐷𝑡
𝐷𝑈 𝐷 1
𝐷 1 So, 𝑈. = ( 𝑈. 𝑈)
𝜌 𝐔. 𝐔 = −𝐔. ∇p − 𝜌𝑔𝑤 Mechanical energy 𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡 2
𝐷𝑡 2
𝐷𝑒 𝐷 1
Subtracting this from 𝜌 +𝜌 𝐔. 𝐔 = −𝐔. ∇𝑝 − 𝑝∇. 𝐔 − 𝜌𝑔𝑤 + 𝜌𝐽
𝐷𝑡 𝐷𝑡 2
𝐷𝑒
we get 𝜌 = −𝑝 𝛁. 𝐔 + 𝜌𝐽
𝐷𝑡 Thermal energy
Again, from continuity equation Specific volume
For dry air, 𝑒 = 𝑐𝑣 𝑇 where 𝑐𝑣 = 717 Jkg−1K−1 is the specific heat capacity at constant volume
Conversion of thermal energy to mechanical energy. This
conversion enables solar heat to drive the motions of the
atmosphere
Thermodynamic energy equation