2.1.5 Heat storage and transport

In an area delimited by latitudes ${\phi }_1$, ${\phi }_2$ and longitudes ${\lambda }_1$ , ${\lambda }_2$ (Fig. 2.15), the net radiative heat flux at the top of the atmosphere RF_TOA must be balanced by the sum of the horizontal heat transport, the heat exchanges with the deep ground, and the contribution to the heat budget associated with changes in the heat storage in the atmosphere, the ocean and the ground. As the ground has a very low thermal conductivity, only the top few metres interact with the surface on seasonal to decadal timescales. In the majority of climatic applications, it is thus sufficient to take the top few metres of the ground (typically 10 metres) into account, and assume that exchanges with the deep ground or the Earth’s interior can be represented by a geothermal heat flux. The value of this flux is weak in the majority of the regions ($\sim$0.075 Wm^-2) and it is thus often neglected in heat balance computations.

• 2.1.5.1 Heat storage
• 2.1.5.2 Heat transport