Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In meteorology, latent heat flux is the flux of energy from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere that is associated with evaporation or transpiration of water at the surface and subsequent condensation of water vapor in the troposphere. It is an important component of Earth's surface energy budget.
The Bowen ratio is calculated by the equation: =, where is sensible heating and is latent heating. In this context, when the magnitude of is less than one, a greater proportion of the available energy at the surface is passed to the atmosphere as latent heat than as sensible heat, and the converse is true for values of greater than one.
Diagram depicting heat flux through a thermal insulation material with thermal conductivity, k, and thickness, x. Heat flux can be directly measured using a single heat flux sensor located on either surface or embedded within the material. Using this method, knowing the values of k and x of the material are not required.
The transformation of water between its solid/liquid/vapor states also acts as a source or sink of potential energy in the form of latent heat. These processes buffer the surface conditions against some of the rapid radiative changes in the atmosphere. As a result, the daytime versus nighttime difference in surface temperatures is relatively small.
The moist static energy is a thermodynamic variable that describes the state of an air parcel, and is similar to the equivalent potential temperature. [1] The moist static energy is a combination of a parcel's enthalpy due to an air parcel's internal energy and energy required to make room for it, its potential energy due to its height above the surface, and the latent energy due to water ...
In meteorology, the term 'sensible heat flux' means the conductive heat flux from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere. [6] It is an important component of Earth's surface energy budget. Sensible heat flux is commonly measured with the eddy covariance method.
Thermodynamic and mechanical heat transfer is calculated with the heat transfer coefficient, the proportionality between the heat flux and the thermodynamic driving force for the flow of heat. Heat flux is a quantitative, vectorial representation of heat flow through a surface. [3]
The ocean heat fluxes substantially vary spatially and temporally and strongly contribute to the summer sea ice melt and the absence of sea ice in some parts of the Arctic Ocean. If we also assume a linear temperature profile within ice and no effect from ice thermal inertia, we can determine latent heat flux Q * by solving the following equation:
