The climate system can be described and treated from a fundamental point of view as a non-equilibrium thermodynamical system which (approximately) maintains a steady state by balancing the input and the output of energy and entropy. The goal of this session is to bring together experts interested in the application of basic thermodynamical concepts for the analysis of the global properties of the climate system. Theoretical contributions, diagnostic studies on climate models, analyses of past, present and future climate conditions are equally welcome. Note that, given the general nature of the envisaged approaches, this forum welcomes also contributions related to the atmospheres of other planets.
Specific topics include:
- Surface and Top of the Atmosphere Energy budget;
- Large Scale Heat Transport in the Ocean and in the Atmosphere;
- Efficiency of the Climate System;
- Energetics of the Atmospheric and Ocean Circulation;
- Entropy Production and Irreversibility;
- Maximum Entropy Production Principle;
- Turbulent Mixing and Diffusion;
- Fundamental Studies in the Thermodynamics of Geophysical Fluids;
- Energetics and Entropy Production in Planetary Atmospheres.