GEOG309 Lecture 3: Week 3B_Radiant Energy Flow (Part II)

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Geography and Environmental Management
• Course: GEOG309
• Professor: Yuri Leonenko

Document Summary

Jan 23 week 3b radiant energy flow (part ii) Insolation the solar radiation that reaches earth"s surface. I. e. , the incident solar radiation onto some object/a specified area over a set period of time. Albedo ( ) refers to the reflectivity of a substance. Measured as the proportion (%) of energy that is reflected back: for earth, ~0. 3 (30%) 30% of the solar energy is not reaching the surface of our globe but being reflected back. Black body (bb) model: (where energy in = energy out; doesn"t account for an atmosphere) Effect of albedo: (measuring the amount of energy actually reaching our globe) > emission temperature will always be ~-19o c (254 k) this is earth"s temp (not surface temp) Greenhouse effect warms the earth"s surface by approx. Radiation is energy in the form of electro-magnetic waves, with different frequencies (v) Amplitude height of a wave determines amount of energy transferred (higher amplitude -> greater intensity?)