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.
Temperature-dependency of the heats of vaporization for water, methanol, benzene, and acetone. In thermodynamics, the enthalpy of vaporization (symbol ∆H vap), also known as the (latent) heat of vaporization or heat of evaporation, is the amount of energy that must be added to a liquid substance to transform a quantity of that substance into a gas.
Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas [18] [19] owing to the presence of the hydroxyl bond which strongly absorbs in the infra-red. Water vapor is the "working medium" of the atmospheric thermodynamic engine which transforms heat energy from sun irradiation into mechanical energy in the form of winds.
For a liquid–gas transition, is the molar latent heat (or molar enthalpy) of vaporization; for a solid–gas transition, is the molar latent heat of sublimation. If the latent heat is known, then knowledge of one point on the coexistence curve , for instance (1 bar, 373 K) for water, determines the rest of the curve.
A rising parcel of air containing water vapor, if it rises far enough, reaches its lifted condensation level: it becomes saturated with water vapor (see Clausius–Clapeyron relation). If the parcel of air continues to rise, water vapor condenses and releases its latent heat to the surrounding air, partially offsetting the adiabatic cooling.
= latent heat of water vaporization, 2.45 [MJ kg −1], = specific heat of air at constant pressure, [MJ kg −1 °C −1], = ratio molecular weight of water vapor/dry air = 0.622. Both and are constants.
Water vapor contains latent heat of vaporization. As a parcel of air rises and cools, it eventually becomes saturated ; that is, the vapor pressure of water in equilibrium with liquid water has decreased (as temperature has decreased) to the point where it is equal to the actual vapor pressure of water.
As water vapor condenses, latent heat is released into the air parcel. Moist air has more water vapor than dry air, so more latent heat is released into the parcel of moist air as it rises. Dry air does not have as much water vapor, therefore dry air cools at a higher rate with vertical movement than moist air.