ATOC 1050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Orbital Inclination, Parking Lot, Outgoing Longwave Radiation
1 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Chapter 2: warming the earth and the atmosphere (continued) Radiation: the sun emits all forms of radiation, some forms are emitted in larger quantities than others, the band of visible light between 400nm and 700nm represents over 43% of the total energy emitted. Carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb long radiation which makes them selective absorbers. Greenhouse effect: greenhouse gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane absorb outgoing infrared radiation. In the daytime, the role of clouds is dependent on the cloud type. High, thin clouds tend to allow incoming radiation to pass through the surface while absorbing the outgoing longwave radiation and therefore have a warming effect. Low, thick clouds tend to have a cooling effect because they have a high albedo. The fraction of radiation that is reflected by an object. 30% of incoming solar radiation is reflected back to space by the planet.
