Reference no: EM132511552

Question 1: Recall that relative humidity is a function of the actual vapour pressure and the saturation vapour pressure

where VP = vapour pressure, and W = mixing ratio. The subscript s refers to the saturation vapour pressure or mixing ratio. Compare the actual water content of the air over the sunny Sahara with that of a blizzard in Baffin Bay. In the Sahara, use a temperature of 40°C and a RH of 10%. Use mixing ratios (W/Ws) for your calculations, so that you will end up with water content in g/kg, which is more meaningful than mb here. Calculate the mixing ratio by reversing the above equation and solving for W. Determine the saturation mixing ratio. Then do the same for the Baffin Bay blizzard, where the air temperature is -10°C and the RH = 100%.

Question 2: In the tropical rain forest latitudes, intense solar heating causes air to rise along a zone sometimes referred to as the "thermal equator" or the "inter-tropical convergence zone". You know that the active tropospheric part of the atmosphere is a maximum of 18 km at the equator. Suppose the air at sea level has a temperature of 30°C. What would be its temperature at 18 km assuming it rises by the dry adiabatic lapse rate?