Mountain Forces and the Atmospheric Energy Budget

Abstract

lthough mountains are generally thought to exert forces on the atmosphere, the related transfers of energy between earth and atmosphere are not represented in standard energy equations of the atmosphere. It is shown that the axial rotation of the atmosphere must be included in the energy budget in order to resolve this issue. The energy transfer resulting from mountains turns out to be closely related to mountain torques. The energetic effects of a changing rotation of the earth are discussed, as well as those of friction torques and those of the nonspherical shape of the earth.