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Heat Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a balanced heat budget?

A

When an equal amount of heat enters and leaves the atmosphere

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2
Q

Why does any object that is receiving heat from another object change temperature?

A
  • The object receiving heat does not have a balanced heat budget
  • More heat is being directed toward the object than what is leaving the object
  • Temp will increase as long as the amount of heat that it is receiving is greater than the amount of heat it is losing as infrared radiation
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3
Q

How much solar energy is reflected when it strikes Earth?

A

30%

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4
Q

How much solar energy is absorbed by the atmosphere when it strikes Earth?

A

20%

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5
Q

How much solar energy is absorbed by Earth’s surface (land+oceans) when it strikes Earth? (what happens?)

A

50%
20% absorbed by surface + re-emitted as infrared radiation back to space
30% conducted to the lowermost atmosphere, convected to high elevations, radiated to space as infrared

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6
Q

What is insolation?

A

The amount of solar radiation received at a location

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7
Q

What is the albedo of the Earth and how does it compare to the albedo of other planets?

A
  • Earth’s albedo = 35%
  • Gas giants- high- clouds
  • Mercury- low (6%)- no atmosphere
  • Venus- high (72%)- clouds
  • Mars- low (16%)- rock/sand/dust + ice caps
  • Moon- low (7%)- basalt (dark rock), appears bright because we are close to it
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8
Q

What on the Earth has a very high or low albedo?

A 
Ice + clouds: 75-95
Grasslands- 20
Deserts: 30
Rock: 5-30
Forest: 10
Ocean: 2-4 (higher when sun is low in sky)
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9
Q

How is electromagnetic radiation classified? (lowest to highest frequency)

A

AM radio, Shortwave radio, Television FM radio, Microwaves, radar, millimeter waves, telemetry, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, Gamma rays.

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10
Q

What is the warmest month of the year in the Northern hemisphere? Why is this not the time it is receiving the most direct solar radiation?

A
  • Warmest: July
  • Most radiation: June
  • Days becoming shorter
  • Sun lower
  • The amount of incoming solar energy is still more than the amount of heat we are losing as infrared radiation
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11
Q

When is the coldest month of the year? Why is this not the same time we receive the least direct solar radiation?

A
  • Coldest: January
  • Least radiation: December
  • Days becoming longer
  • Sun higher
  • The amount of incoming solar energy is still less than the amount of heat we are losing as infrared radiation
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12
Q

When is the warmest time of day? Why?

A
  • Warmest: mid afternoon
  • Most radiation: solar noon
  • Sun is sinking and we are receiving less solar energy after noon
  • The amount of incoming solar energy is still more than the amount of heat we are losing as infrared radiation so temp still rising
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13
Q

What heats up faster - land or ocean? How does this affect our climate?

A
  • Land heats up faster- water has a higher “specific heat” than rock or soil
  • Takes more energy to raise the temperature of water than the temperature of rock by 1 degree
  • Land does not conduct heat too well, so energy is concentrated in the top few inches of land
  • In oceans, heat is conducted well- convection + waves, spreads out energy
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14
Q

What does a warm object emit more of than a cooler object?

A
  • Warmer objects emit more infrared radiation
  • All things emit infrared radiation if their temperature is above absolute zero
  • The higher the temperature, the more infrared radiation an object emits
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15
Q

What is a temperature inversion?

A

When temperature increases with increasing elevation, instead of decreasing

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16
Q

Why is a temperature inversion called that?

A

It is opposite of what usually happens

17
Q

How does temperature inversion form?

A
  • After cold clear night, ground lost heat/thermal energy in the form of infrared radiation
  • Cold ground chills air in contact with it to a temp lower than air farther up
  • Layer of warmer air sits above the colder air, colder air has higher density + doesn’t rise so it stays there
  • If air chilled to dew point temp, water will condense to form fog (or freezing fog)
18
Q

What brings an end to the inversion?

A
  • Usually ends when the sun comes out in the morning, but can last several days
  • Sun can’t always burn off fog
19
Q

Describe the conditions by which it may become hazardous to human health

A
  • If pollution gets trapped/concentrated below the warm air, air may be hazardous to breathe
  • This may affect young children and elderly
20
Q

What is usually colder during the winter: a cloudy or clear night? Why?

A
  • Clear nights become colder, because the heat has more of a chance to escape from the ground
  • Clouds prevent the heat from leaving. Clouds absorb infrared radiation and radiate heat back
21
Q

How do greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere? What would the temperature of the Earth be like if there were no greenhouse gases?

A
  • Greenhouse gases keep in heat, so it does not escape the atmosphere
  • If there were no greenhouse gases, the Earth would be a lot colder since it would not be able to keep in heat as well
22
Q

How does a sea breeze form?

A
  • Forms at mid-afternoon when air rising off the hot land is replaced by cooler air from the sea
  • Clouds may form, and cold air sinks over the ocean
23
Q

When do temperatures begin to fall?

A
  • Late July:
  • The amount of incoming solar radiation and the amount of outgoing heat (infrared) are equal
  • After late July:
  • The amount of incoming solar energy is less than the amount of outgoing infrared and temp begins to fall
24
Q

When do temperatures begin to rise?

A
  • Late January:
  • The amount of incoming solar radiation and the amount of outgoing heat (infrared) are equal
  • After late January:
  • The amount of incoming solar energy is greater than the amount of outgoing infrared and temp begins to rise
25
Q

What happens to temps after mid afternoon?

A
  • Sun continues to set

- We are receiving less solar energy than we are losing as infrared and temps start to fall

26
Q

What happens to temps overnight?

A
  • Incoming solar radiation = 0

- Continue to lose heat as infrared, temp still falls

27
Q

What happens to temps at dawn?

A
  • Amount of incoming solar energy is now more than the amount of heat the land is losing
  • Temps begin to rise
28
Q

Urban heat islands

A
  • Cities are several degrees (F) warmer than the surrounding suburban/rural areas
  • Cities- higher concentration of things that produce heat
  • Black roads- low albedo
  • Lack of green spaces/water (evaporation = cooling)
  • Heat is problem for people without air conditioning
  • High use of air conditioning = using more energy
29
Q

Albedo

A
  • Reflectivity

- The measure of what proportion of the light that strikes and object is reflected by it

30
Q

How to convert C to F?

A

1.8x + 32

31
Q

How to convert F to C?

A

(x - 32) / 1.8

Earth Science (16 decks)

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