Victor P. Starr

Pole-to-pole moisture conditions for the IGY

SummaryA study of the mean atmospheric humidity conditions on a planetary scale during the IGY covering the calendar year 1958 is presented. The fields of mean precipitable water content and of the zonal and meridional transports of water vapor are analyzed for the entire globe. Zonally averaged values of the various quantities at several levels are presented in tabular form and compared whenever possible with previous results or indirectly are analyzed on the basis of information obtained from different sources. The structure of these fields is studied and the corresponding implications for the general circulations of the atmosphere are discussed. Finally the zonal water balance for all the globe is discussed and its implications analyzed.

On the meridional flux of water vapor in the northern hemisphere

SummaryIn this paper data are presented concerning the zonal transport of water vapor at several levels in the atmosphere for winter, for summer and for the calendar year of 1950, over the northern hemisphere. Vertical integrals and zonal averages are included in the discussion.

A method for the study of the zonal kinetic energy balance in the atmosphere

SummaryThe atmospheric balance of the kinetic energy of the zonally averaged zonal motion is investigated from five years of daily data at 800 stations for the northern hemisphere. The basic equation for such energy is used, together with the simplifying assumption that the frictional destruction is due in the main to stresses acting across horizontal surfaces, being thus presumably related to the vertical shear of the mean zonal wind, although no further details are needed in the analysis. The five-year averages of various terms as well as their seasonal means appear to give reasonable results.

Mechanics of eddy processes in the tropical troposphere

SummaryIt is suggested on the basis of the study of observational data gathered byJ. P. Peixoto that the eddy processes in the tropical regions of the middle troposphere operate in an inverse manner as compared with a normal heat engine. Thus, in common with the situation in the lower stratosphere, the region is characterized by a countergradient horizontal eddy heat transport and a rising of colder air and sinking of warmer air on the scale of the large eddy processes.

Applications of Energy Principles to the General Circulation

Theoretical hydrodynamics and thermodynamics furnish the basic equations of energy which in the end must describe the energy transformations which take place in the atmosphere. These equations in themselves are not capable of furnishing a sufficient rational explanation of the causes of atmospheric processes, but nevertheless provide a guide to systematic exploration for purposes of finding empirically important facts concerning the behavior of the atmosphere. Thus their utility is much enhanced if consideration is given to observational data.

Large scale vertical eddies in the atmosphere and the energy of the mean zonal flow

SummaryThe zonal eddy stress across horizontal surfaces due to large scale vertical motions was evaluated for two months from data for the northern hemisphere for a number of levels up to 50 mb. From this information and from the corresponding distributions for each of the two months of the mean zonal winds, the rate of transformation of kinetic energy from eddy to mean zonal form was calculated. The two sets of data gave rather small values for the hemisphere which were of opposite sign.

The Physical Basis for the General Circulation

Since time immemorial man has inescapably observed the atmosphere in which he lives and has his being. It would therefore seem reasonable to expect that at the present date the science of meteorology should be one of the most advanced fields of human endeavor. Yet, if a distinction is made between the mere collection of descriptive facts of observation on the one hand and interpretative work which aims to give a rational intellectual understanding of phenomena on the other, it must be confessed that our knowledge concerning the large-scale motions of the atmosphere is restricted mostly to the former category of information. Thus, for example, no one has as yet given a satisfactory rational explanation for one of the most outstanding features of the general circulation, namely the large belts of westerly winds in the temperate latitudes of each hemisphere. However, it must be recognized that it is only in the last few decades that anything approaching sufficiently complete global observations for the checking of hypotheses regarding the general circulation has become available, so that progress at a more accelerated pace should now be forthcoming.

Experimental engineering procedure for the recovery of liquid water from the atmospheric vapor content

SummaryIt is proposed that liquid water be recovered from the atmosphere through a partial duplication of natural moist convection processes within an experimental piece of equipment in which certain of the actions could be protected and enhanced. No source of driving energy other than the automatic release of latent heat of condensing water vapor is envisioned. Various problems of a scientific and engineering nature that arise are enumerated and discussed in a preliminary fashion.

A preliminary dynamic view of the circulation of Jupiter's atmosphere

SummaryThe problem of the gross nature of the Jovian atmospheric circulation is examined from the viewpoint of the following previous findings of the writer and others. 1) The equatorial acceleration cannot be accounted for by axisymmetric motions. 2) The departures from symmetry in a rotating system having an equatorial acceleration must impart angular momentum selectively to those particles moving toward the jet maximum and abstract it from those moving away. 3) These selective (pressure) torques and associated sorting processes arise spontaneously in the presence of a vertical convection mode involving motions not independent of longitude, if the cell sizes and other conditions are right.Since there is evidence that Jovian dark spots have statistical maxima of occurrence along the tropical shear lines flanking the equator, these are assumed to be vertical convective systems forming, in effect,convective vortex sheets which generate the high angular momentum of the equatorial zone. Various additional concepts are discussed, and many comparisons with conditions in the sun and in the earths atmosphere are made.

Active regions and the large scale flow in the solar photosphere

SummaryStatistics on sunspot leaders and followers in active regions are derived from the 50 years of Greenwich records 1905–1954. The results are combined with the probable structure of large scale solar eddies as synthesized from various relevant pieces of information. It is found that active regions tend to be located in anticyclonic ridges of the large disturbances. The statistical leader and follower populations are further subdivided, each into new and old spot classifications. The new leaders, especially, show motions different from those of other spots, suggesting the presence of a life cycle for the large disturbances. It is found that the divergence and vorticity are positive and anticyclonic, respectively, for the new active regions, the former quantity being numerically larger than the latter in this case. Various possible implications of the material are discussed.