ATOC 184 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Black-Body Radiation, Background Radiation, Radiant Flux
16 Jan 2019
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Document Summary
A blackbody is something that emits or absorbs energy with 100% efficiency at all wavelengths. Has characteristic wavelength distribution that depends upon the body"s absolute temperature. The wavelength of the most intense radiation an object emits decreases with increasing absolute temperature. Blue fire is more intense than red fire. Earth"s atmosphere traps heat from the sun. The atmosphere is transparent to solar radiation (visible light), but strongly absorbs terrestrial (infrared) radiation. The absorption of terrestrial radiation is mainly h2o (water vapour) and clouds. Other greenhouse gases include co2, ch4, n2o and o3. Amount of radiation coming in to the earth is the same of amount of radiation leaving the earth. We know this since earth"s temperature is approximately constant. Not true for specific locations on earth but for earth as a whole. Earth"s surface temperature depends on three factors.
