Relaxational dissipation in atmospheric waves-I. Basic formulation

Details Relaxational dissipation in atmospheric waves-I. Basic formulation Relaxational dissipation in atmospheric waves-I. Basic formulation

Publishing date

Nov 1977

URL

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1977p%26ss...25.1045m&link_type=abstract

Journals

Planetary and Space Science, Volume 25, Issue 11, p. 1045-1060.

Science

Other

Type

Scientific paper

Abstract

Relaxation of molecular thermal energy between translational and internal degrees of freedom, which occurs in the course of molecular collisions, acts to dissipate dynamical energy of the atmosphere and so produces attenuation of atmospheric waves. This paper establishes a basic formalism by means of which the effects may be incorporated readily into dynamical studies. It does so with the aid of a frequency-dependent complex thermal capacitance, cω, for which general formulae are developed. These formulae are extended to include the effects of radiative relaxation as well, and the imaginary part of cω is recast in a generalized form of Newtonian cooling coefficient; the relative importance of collisional relaxation and radiative relaxation in the dissipation of dynamical energy may be assessed readily with the aid of either parameter. The `volume viscosity' that is sometimes attributed to the atmosphere is shown to have its origins in the same relaxation processes and to be nothing other than an alternative to Cω, for expressing their effects, an alternative that is inferior and even illegitimate in some circumstances and therefore one that should be abandoned in favour of cω. Though the paper is largely tutorial in nature, it establishes generalizations and limitations that appear to be absent from other work. Its formal results are applied to waves in the Earth's upper atmosphere in a companion paper.

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