MODEL COMPONENTS

AND
FUNDAMENTAL
EQUATIONS
Prepared by,
Ajith Baby
M.Sc. Climate Science
FEN-2020-09-02
Components of the climate system:
The climate system can be divided into five components-
• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Cryosphere
• Land Surface
• Biosphere
A complete climate model contains physical descriptions of all
five components and takes into consideration their coupling.
The important components to be considered in
constructing or understanding a model of the
climate system are:

• Radiation - the way in which the input and absorption of solar

radiation by the atmosphere or ocean and the emission of infrared
radiation are handled.
• Dynamics - the movement of energy around the globe by winds and
ocean currents and vertical movements.
• Surface processes - inclusion of the effects of sea and land ice, snow,
vegetation and the resultant change in albedo, emissivity and
surface–atmosphere energy and moisture interchanges.
• Chemistry - the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the
interactions with other components (e.g. carbon exchanges
between ocean, land and atmosphere)
• Resolution in both time and space - the time step of the model and
the horizontal and vertical scales resolved.
- each climate system component operates on a range of
characteristic temporal and spatial scales:
A sixth component, treated as a distinct part of the climate system:
the anthroposphere, consisting of the processes which are caused
or altered by humans.
The most important ones are the emission of substances which alter
the radiation balance, and land use change (deforestation,
desertification, degradation and transformation into constructed
areas).
Most of the climate models treat processes and fluxes of the
anthroposphere as an external forcing, i.e., the models are run by
prescribing atmospheric concentrations and emissions of CO2.
 The Basic Equations
The basic equations are from the principle of the
conservation of mass, momentum and energy.
- The conservation laws are derived considering the rate of
change in mass, momentum and energy per unit volume.
The basic equations that govern the atmosphere can be
formulated as a set of seven equations with seven unknowns:
- the three components of the wind velocity (u, v and w), the
pressure p, the temperature T, the specific humidity q and the
density.
Newton’s second law of motion (momentum equation)

In this equation, d /dt is the total derivative, including a transport term,

is the apparent gravity vector (i.e. taking the centrifugal force into
account), is the force due to friction, and is the angular velocity
vector of the earth (the last term is the Coriolis force).
The continuity equation or the conservation of mass

The conservation of the mass of water vapour

Where, E and C are evaporation and condensation, respectively.

The first law of thermodynamics (the conservation of energy)

Where, Q is heating rate per unit mass and Cp the specific heat.

The equation of state

Before these equations are used in models some standard approximations

have to be performed.
Thank You