GEOG220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Thermosphere, Evaporation, Longwave

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEOG220
• Professor: Leathers Dan

Document Summary

Today"s weather: clockwise flow vs. counterclockwise flow coming from the southwest. Sensible heat: heat energy that humans can feel and can be measured with a thermometer, we can physically feel the heat. Heat energy can be transferred in four ways through our atmosphere: conduction, convection, latent heat, radiation. **all three of these processes need transferring of heat** Conduction: transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance, very inefficient way to transfer heat energy through atmosphere. Convection: transfer of heat by the mass movement of a fluid, ex, puffy white cumulus clouds, efficient way to transfer heat energy through atmosphere. Radiation: transfer of heat energy by the movement of electromagnetic waves, does not need intervening molecules to move heat form one place to another, therefore, radiation can transfer heat across a vacuum. Electromagnetic waves move at a very high rate of speed: 186,000 mi/sec (300,000 km/sec) (speed of light)