Energy exchange at atmosphere-earth interface.

• Main Author: Ibrahim, Hassan.
• Format: Others
• Published: University of Ottawa (Canada) 2009
• Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/10466; http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-16841

Engineering construction in cold regions is greatly effected by the environment. The type of structure, its design, its erection and its operation and maintenance are all influenced by the surrounding meteorological conditions. Another consideration is of course the site on which the construction is to be erected. Before construction one has to determine, above others, how deep the soil below the surface is frozen and this requires heat transfer analysis on that particular site. In this thesis heat flux for thirty-two sites are considered. These sites are chosen since their n-factors and soil properties are known experimentally. With weather data like air-temperature, dew-point temperature, cloud cover and wind speed supplied by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it is possible to calculate the net shortwave and longwave radiation, and the convective heat flux at the surface. For two of the sites; Fairbanks, Alaska and Boston, Massachussetts, data on radiation are available and they can be used to check the accuracy of the results obtained using the existing equations. For these two sites empirical relationships on the effect of cloud cover on shortwave and longwave radiation can also be obtained. With the calculation of seasonal heat fluxes and the known soil properties it is possible to calculate the air and surface indexes, the n-factor, and finally by using appropriate parameters, obtain an empirical relationship between the surface and the air indexes. It will also be seen how close the calculated results agree with the theory.