Latent heat

About: Latent heat is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13503 publications have been published within this topic receiving 302811 citations.

Analytical model for solidification of the Earth's core

Abstract: THE Earth's solid inner core is generally thought to have formed by gradual solidification of the liquid core as the Earth cooled1–3. To elucidate the relative importance of the various physical effects on the thermal evolution of the core, we have developed an analytical model based on global heat conservation, which describes the cooling of the vigorously convecting, fluid outer core and the concomitant growth of the inner core. We obtain a simple form for the evolution of the inner-core radius which allows the consequences of changes to the model's input parameters to be readily assessed. For most of this evolution, inner-core growth is controlled primarily by the heat capacity of the outer core and the history of the heat flux into the base of the mantle. Heat sources associated with solidification of the inner core, including the release of latent heat and gravitational energy, have a secondary role but become more important towards the end of solidification. Using current seismic estimates of compositional changes at the surface of the inner core, we conclude that the compositional and thermal buoyancy fluxes in the outer core are comparable.

Persistent unstable atmospheric boundary layer enhances sensible and latent heat loss in a tropical great lake: Lake Tanganyika

Abstract: [1] Energy fluxes across the surface of lakes regulate heat storage and affect the water balance. Sensible and latent heat fluxes are affected by atmospheric stability, especially for large lakes. We examined the effect of atmospheric stability on the heat fluxes on seasonal time scales at Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, by estimating hourly sensible and latent heat fluxes and net radiation using thermistor chains and meteorological stations. The atmosphere was almost always unstable, in contrast to the atmosphere above North American Great Lakes which is unstable in winter and stable in summer. Persistent atmospheric instability resulted in a 13% and 18% increase in the annual mean heat loss by latent and sensible heat fluxes, respectively, relative to conditions of neutral stability. The persistent unstable atmosphere is caused by a higher water surface temperature compared with air temperature, which we argue is the case in general in (sub)tropical lakes. Low humidity further enhanced the frequency of unstable conditions and enhanced the exchange of heat and vapor from the lake to the atmosphere. The estimated heat fluxes were sensitive to the temporal scale of data inputs and to the local values of parameters such as air density. To our knowledge this is the first paper that demonstrates and quantifies the effect of atmospheric stability on latent and sensible heat fluxes from a lake on an annual basis, using data collected from the lake surface.