The global thermodynamics of atmospheric motion

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Abstract
Global thermodynamics is the study of the relationships between the total mass, energy, and entropy of the atmosphere. The main result is an explicit, exact relation between the entropy, the kinetic energy, and the static entropic energy, a new form of static energy. The stability of atmospheric motions and the maintenance of the circulation are investigated with the total entropic energy (the sum of the kinetic and static entropic energies). The dynamical significance of Gibbs' concept of thermal equilibrium is that the total entropic energy decreases monotonically to zero in isolated atmospheres as a consequence of the Second Law. Furthermore, the generation of entropic energy is related specifically to the destruction of entropy by heating at high temperature relative to cooling at low temperature. An energy budget for zonal and eddy forms of entropic energy is constructed, and illustrates the catalytic effect for the general circulation of this destruction of entropy. Finally, the argument is reversed and a stability postulate is applied to the total entropic energy to infer the existence of an entropy function. The concept of entropic energy represents a new integral of the equations of atmospheric motion that combines the previous energy and entropy integrals into one statement, giving a mathematical version of the relations between entropy and motion. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1973.tb01599.x

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