GEOG220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Shortwave Radiation
18 Apr 2016
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All objects will give off radiation, but all objects also absorb radiation. Objects that give off more energy than take in will cool down. Objects that take in more energy than give off will warm up. If an object is a good emitter of radiation at a wavelength, then that object will absorb radiation at that wavelength just as well. Objects that absorb all radiation incident upon them and emit all possible radiation for their given temperature are called black. Examples are the earth"s surface and the sun. Because the earth"s temperature hasn"t changed much over time, there has to be a near equilibrium of the radiation coming in and going out. For this the swr coming in must = the lwr that goes out (of the earth). F, but the earth"s average surface temperature is 59 f. This is possible because the earth"s atmosphere is not a black.
