AOS 2: Air Pollution
Online Discussion Assignment #5, Week 8
1. (4 pts) Draw the temperature curve that a balloon with a temperature of 25°C at the ground will follow if we lift it to 1.5 km altitude for two cases:
a) without condensation (dry)
b) with condensation (saturated)
(hint: the “curve” is a straight line)
2. (6 pts) Draw temperature curves dry air parcels that we release with temperatures of 22°C and 24°C at the ground. The ?-curve in the graph describes the environmental temperature profile. At what altitudes do these air parcels stop rising, or do they rise indefinitely? Explain.
3. (6 pts) Using the environmental temperature sounding at the right, answer the following questions.
If we push the dry air parcel sitting at 0.5 km altitude and a temperature of 17°C up a short distance, is it going to sink, rise, or remain at this new altitude? Why?
If we push the dry air parcel sitting at 0.5 km altitude and a temperature of 17°C down a short distance, is it going to sink, rise, or remain at this new altitude? Why?
4) (4 pts) Let’s look at the following four vertical temperature profiles over a city. In cities most pollutants, including CO, are emitted at the ground. The typical unpolluted CO levels at the ground are around 200 ppb, and should decrease somewhat with altitude due to dispersion. How might the vertical concentration profile of CO look like in the following four scenarios? Discuss your results with your classmates.