lab4_2024

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Toronto Metropolitan University *

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ESSE 3660

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Geography

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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11

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LE/ESSE 1012 3.0 The Earth Environment Winter 2024 Lab. Section: Name: Student Number: Lab 4: OCEAN & CLIMATE DUE: MARCH 15, 2024, 10:00 PM ET IMPORTANT: This is a paper-based lab. No lab session will be held. Unless otherwise indicated, show your work for all problems. You can either enter your answers into this document electronically using a computer or tablet, or you can print this document, handwrite your answers in the spaces provided, and scan the pages. If you need additional space, you can insert additional pages or you can add additional space within the Word document. For all numerical answers, the units should be indicated. Students can discuss this lab with each other, but copying from each other or copying from other sources is cheating and is not permitted. You should not share your answer sheets with other students or look at the answer sheets of other students. You should understand the concepts well enough to explain your answers in your own words. Your answers for hands- on portions of the lab should be based on work that you yourself performed in the lab location. If the lab procedure indicates that you can form groups to complete particular tasks, then you should still be physically present in the lab location contributing to the completion of those tasks, you should write the names of other group members on your answer sheets and show your work in your own words for all questions unless otherwise indicated. If your work relies on information that is obtained from a legitimate source other than ESSE 1012 course materials, please indicate the source of that information with enough detail so that someone else can locate the source. Please see the course outline for detailed policies. As discussed in class, a key influence on climate is latitude. Latitudes near the equator are typically warmer and higher latitudes are typically cooler. Furthermore, the temperature seasonal cycle amplitude (i.e. the change in temperature between the coldest time of year and the warmest time of year) is typically smaller at low latitudes than at high latitudes, since the seasonal variation in solar zenith angle is larger at higher latitudes. But another important influence is proximity to large bodies of water, especially oceans. We will refer to this effect as the “proximity to water” (PTW) effect. Large bodies of (unfrozen) water have lower albedo compared to land surfaces, which tends to raise the mean temperature of surrounding regions. Furthermore, water has a higher heat capacity compared to land, and so proximity to large bodies of water tends to stabilize the temperature of the surrounding land regions. Finally, the ocean circulation transports heat, causing some regions to become warmer and others cooler.
In this lab, you will look at climate data from the Canada Climate Normals website ( https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html ) and assess the influences of latitude and the PTW effect. In addition to the average temperature over the whole year, we will also be interested in the temperature seasonal cycle amplitude. 1. (a) Compute the effective heat capacity for a 125 m deep section of ocean, assuming it is pure water. Express your answer to two significant digits. (6 points.) (b) For the ocean layer considered in part a, assume that the difference between all energy sources and energy sinks is − 120 W m −2 . (That is, there is a net energy sink from the ocean layer.) Estimate by how much the temperature of the ocean layer will change over 10 days. Express your answer to one decimal place in units of K, and clearly indicate whether the temperature increases or decreases. (7 points.)
(c) Compute the approximate effective heat capacity for a 12 km thick section of atmosphere. Use the vertically-averaged density (0.8 kg m -3 ) for your calculation. Express your answer to two significant digits. (6 points.) (d) For the atmospheric layer considered in part c, assume that the difference between all energy sources and energy sinks is 120 W m −2 . (That is, there is a net energy source into the atmospheric layer.) Estimate by how much the temperature of the atmospheric layer will change over 10 days. Express your answer to one decimal place in units of K, and clearly indicate whether the temperature increases or decreases. (6 points.)
(e) Compare the effective heat capacities and temperature changes in parts a-d. How does this lead us to expect that large bodies of water will have a stabilizing effect on temperature? (9 points.)
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