A new one-dimensional radiative equilibrium model for investigating atmospheric radiation entropy flux

Wu, Wei; Liu, Yangang

doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0301

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Investigations along this line are generally related to the second law of thermodynamics wherein entropy and entropy production are fundamental components, and thermodynamic extremal entropy production principles are often used to explain some collective behaviors of the complex Earth's system without knowing the details of the dynamics within the system. Such thermodynamic investigations have provided crucial insight into various processes of climatic importance in the past several decades [e.g., Paltridge , 1975, 1978; Golitsyn and Mokhov , 1978; Nicolis and Nicolis , 1980; Grassl , 1981; Mobbs , 1982; Noda and Tokioka , 1983; Essex , 1984, 1987; Wyant et al , 1988; Lesins , 1990; Peixoto et al , 1991; Stephens and O'Brien , 1993; Goody and Abdou , 1996; Goody , 2000; Ozawa et al , 2003; Paltridge et al , 2007; Pauluis et al , 2008; Wang et al , 2008; Lucarini et al , 2010; Wu and Liu , 2010]. However, the entropic aspects of climate theory have not yet been developed as well as those based on energy, momentum, and mass balances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation entropy flux and entropy production of the Earth system

Liu

2010

Rev. Geophys.

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The study of the Earth's radiation entropy flux at the top of the atmosphere is reviewed with an emphasis on its estimation methods. Existing expressions for calculating radiation entropy flux scattered in different disciplines are surveyed, and their applicabilities are examined. It is found that the Earth's net radiation entropy flux estimated from these various expressions can differ substantially, more than the typical value of the entropy production rate associated with the atmospheric latent heat process. Comparison analysis shows that the commonly used expression of radiation entropy flux as the ratio of radiation energy flux to absolute temperature underestimates the Earth's radiation entropy flux by >30%. Theoretical analysis reveals that the large difference in the Earth's reflected solar radiation entropy flux among the different expressions arises mainly from the difference of the Earth's reflection properties (i.e., Lambertian or specular) assumed in these expressions. For the Earth system with typical shortwave albedo of 0.30 and longwave emissivity between 0.50 and 1.00, the Earth's net radiation entropy flux derived from the most accurate Planck's spectral expression ranges from 1.272 to 1.284 W m−2 K−1, amounting to the overall Earth's entropy production rate from 6.481 × 1014 to 6.547 × 1014 W K−1.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation entropy flux and entropy production of the Earth system

Liu

2010

Rev. Geophys.

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“…Radiation could be treated as an internal process, but this significantly complicates the analytic treatment of the equation. For the interested reader, the paper by Wu & Liu (2010) offers an elegant analysis of the entropy flux and entropy production associated with radiative transfer in the Earth's atmosphere.…”

Section: Dissipation By Atmospheric Convection Depends Upon Humiditymentioning

confidence: 99%

It is not the entropy you produce, rather, how you produce it

Volk

Pauluis

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The principle of maximum entropy production (MEP) seeks to better understand a large variety of the Earth's environmental and ecological systems by postulating that processes far from thermodynamic equilibrium will 'adapt to steady states at which they dissipate energy and produce entropy at the maximum possible rate'. Our aim in this 'outside view', invited by Axel Kleidon, is to focus on what we think is an outstanding challenge for MEP and for irreversible thermodynamics in general: making specific predictions about the relative contribution of individual processes to entropy production. Using studies that compared entropy production in the atmosphere of a dry versus humid Earth, we show that two systems might have the same entropy production rate but very different internal dynamics of dissipation. Using the results of several of the papers in this special issue and a thought experiment, we show that components of life-containing systems can evolve to either lower or raise the entropy production rate. Our analysis makes explicit fundamental questions for MEP that should be brought into focus: can MEP predict not just the overall state of entropy production of a system but also the details of the sub-systems of dissipaters within the system? Which fluxes of the system are those that are most likely to be maximized? How it is possible for MEP theory to be so domain-neutral that it can claim to apply equally to both purely physicalchemical systems and also systems governed by the 'laws' of biological evolution? We conclude that the principle of MEP needs to take on the issue of exactly how entropy is produced.

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“…With this they are able to identify the conditions for which dynamic constraints do or do not affect the MEP state. Wu & Liu (2010) set up a one-dimensional radiative transfer model to evaluate the radiative entropy flux of the Earth's atmosphere. They evaluate the effect of greenhouse gases on the vertical structure of entropy fluxes and suggest that there is an intrinsic connection between net radiative entropy fluxes and overall long-wave optical depth.…”

Section: Contents Of This Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Maximum entropy production in environmental and ecological systems

Kleidon

Malhi

Cox

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

151

107

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The coupled biosphere -atmosphere system entails a vast range of processes at different scales, from ecosystem exchange fluxes of energy, water and carbon to the processes that drive global biogeochemical cycles, atmospheric composition and, ultimately, the planetary energy balance. These processes are generally complex with numerous interactions and feedbacks, and they are irreversible in their nature, thereby producing entropy. The proposed principle of maximum entropy production (MEP), based on statistical mechanics and information theory, states that thermodynamic processes far from thermodynamic equilibrium will adapt to steady states at which they dissipate energy and produce entropy at the maximum possible rate. This issue focuses on the latest development of applications of MEP to the biosphere -atmosphere system including aspects of the atmospheric circulation, the role of clouds, hydrology, vegetation effects, ecosystem exchange of energy and mass, biogeochemical interactions and the Gaia hypothesis. The examples shown in this special issue demonstrate the potential of MEP to contribute to improved understanding and modelling of the biosphere and the wider Earth system, and also explore limitations and constraints to the application of the MEP principle.Keywords: thermodynamics; interactions; Earth system science; ecosystems THERMODYNAMICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMSThermodynamics has long been recognized as critical for understanding complex systems ranging from the living cell to planet Earth (Boltzmann 1886;Schrö dinger 1944;Lovelock 1965). Boltzmann already noted in 1886 that:. . . the general struggle for existence of animate beings is not a struggle for raw materials-these, for organisms, are air, water and soil, all abundantly available, nor for energy which exists in plenty in any body in the form of heat, but a struggle for entropy, which becomes available through the transition of energy from the hot sun to the cold Earth.Schrö dinger (1944) extended this perspective in his seminal book What is life? in which he suggested that the living cell maintains its organized structure in a state of thermodynamic disequilibrium by depleting sources of free energy and exporting high entropy waste. At the planetary scale, Lovelock (1965) recognized that the Earth's atmospheric composition is maintained in a state far from thermodynamic equilibrium, and he attributed this unique thermodynamic state to the profound effect that life has on its environment.Taken together, these examples suggest that in order to better understand Earth's environmental and ecological systems and their couplings, we need to view these as coupled thermodynamic systems that are organized in a state far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Central to thermodynamics is the concept of 'entropy' as a measure of 'disorder' or 'randomness'. While the use of 'entropy' is often surrounded with ambiguity, it can nevertheless be used in purely quantitative terms to measure the distance of a given state from thermodynamic equilibriu...

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A new one-dimensional radiative equilibrium model for investigating atmospheric radiation entropy flux

Cited by 9 publications

References 41 publications

Radiation entropy flux and entropy production of the Earth system

Radiation entropy flux and entropy production of the Earth system

It is not the entropy you produce, rather, how you produce it

Maximum entropy production in environmental and ecological systems

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