Past exam of the atmospheric physics course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / Paper 1 / 1 / b / Solution

The entropy form of dry potential temperature follows from its parcel definition. The potential temperature is the temperature a parcel would reach if brought reversibly and adiabatically to a reference pressure $p_0$. For dry air of fixed composition, treated as an ideal gas with constant specific heat capacity,Per unit mass, the first law of thermodynamics, together with $\alpha =R_{d}T/p$ for specific volume, gives $\delta q=c_{p}dT-\alpha dp$. The reversible form of the Second law of thermodynamics then givesHence dry reversible adiabatic motion has $D\theta /Dt=0$. Pressure changes cause expansion cooling or compression warming, while the pressure factor in theta compensates exactly. Adiabaticity alone is insufficient if irreversible mixing or viscous dissipation produces entropy. Condensation or freezing supplies latent heating, so ordinary dry potential temperature need not be conserved in a moist adiabatically moving parcel.