Intro pt. 2a

Question 1

Global Atmospheric Composition &
Circulations: Water Vapor & Clouds

Atmospheric water
 Most common transport: ______
 High evaporation heat (2501 J/g at 0C)
 Evaporation and condensation: important in ______ in the atmosphere

Answer 1

evaporation & precipitation
energy budget

Question 2

Global Atmospheric Composition & Circulations: Water Vapor & Clouds

 collectively: “evapo-transpiration”

Evaporation from a given surface depends on 4 things

FRWP

Answer 2

 Flux of energy
 Relative humidity
 Wind movements
 Properties of the surface

Question 3

under properties of the surface, which refers to increased transport to the atmosphere as evaporation though the stomata of plants

Answer 3

Vegetation

Question 4

Global Atmospheric Composition &
Circulations: Water Vapor & Clouds

Condensation in the free atmosphere does not always lead to precipitation…stops at
formation of clouds

3 main types of clouds:

Answer 4

Stratus
Cumulus
Cirrus

Question 5

_____ Clouds with vertical development (above 50k ft)

_____ Middle clouds 6,500 – 20,000 ft.

_____ Low clouds, surface up to 6,500 ft.

_____ High clouds 20,000 ft and above

Answer 5

Cumulonimbus clouds
Altocumulus clouds
Nimbostratus clouds
Cirrus clouds

Question 6

_____– formed by large-scale vertical movements (cm/s), lifetime: 1 day over oceans

____– bubble formed clouds, formed locally, due to heating of the Earth’s surface, rising velocity in m/s, lifetime – about 1 hour

____ – Tread-formed thin clouds, formed at larger heights (> 5 km), consists of ice particle

Answer 6

Stratus
Cumulus
Cirrus

Question 7

• _____= physical condition of the atmosphere (particularly the troposhere) at a specific time and place with regard to wind, temperature, cloud cover, fog and precipitation
• _____= collective word for rain, hail, snow, etc.
• _____, highly variable and somewhat unpredictable
• _____= longer term view of the weather patterns of a particular locality

Answer 7

weather
precipitation
weather
climate

Question 8

The energy that drives processes in the atmosphere: _____

 Radiation from a black body
 Incoming solar radiation
 Albedo and angle of incidence
 Outgoing long wave radiation
 Heat balance

Answer 8

Solar energy

Question 9

 ______ - Large gaseous globe; mainly hydrogen and helium
 Kept warm by internal nuclear fusion
process.
 Outer 1000 km of the sun’s surface: _____ (radius: 0.7 million km from center)

Answer 9

sun
photosphere

Question 10

What happens to an incident electromagnetic radiation?

 ______- fraction of the incident radiation that
is reflected
 ______- fraction of the incident radiation that
is absorbed
 ______- fraction of the incident radiation that is transmitted

Answer 10

Reflectivity
Absorptivity
Transmissivity

Question 11

 A body that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation that falls on it is called a _____.
 “perfect absorber” - _____
 Neither transmits nor reflect any of the radiation that they intercept

Answer 11

black body
idealization

Question 12

Realization of a black body:

 An insulated enclosure with a ____ , through which light can pass through. The incident light is reflected to the internal surface (big surface
compared to the tiny hole).

 very little of the reflected light can
pass back through the _____.

 nearly all incident light is absorbed by the internal surface of the enclosure.

Answer 12

tiny hole

Question 13

Realization of a black body:

 A ___ often modeled as a black body, and electromagnetic radiation emitted from these bodies as black-body radiation.

 The emitted light of a _ is generated in the photosphere, within which the photons of light interact with the materials in it and achieve a common temperature T that is maintained over a long period of time.

Answer 13

star or planet
star

Question 14

A _____ is also a perfect radiator (emitter), i.e., the relative intensities of the different frequencies that it radiates are dependent only on its temperature.

Answer 14

black body

Question 15

Radiation: ____ is a function
of Temperature

Answer 15

energy flux

Question 16

_____: The wavelength of the peak radiance [lambda (max)] decreases linearly as the temperature increases, where c is a constant:

_____: intensity of radiant energy emitted at a given wavelength
 and temperature T (shape of the curve)

_____ gives the power As , the total energy emitted as a function of temperature T. This power is calculated by adding up the areas under the curve of intensity vs. T. Sigma is the Stefan-Boltzman constant.

Answer 16

Wein’s Law
Planck’s Law
Stefan-Boltzmann Law

Question 17

Radiation: ____ from a non-
black body

Answer 17

Energy flux

Question 18

____– the ratio of the amount of radiative power emitted by a non- black body to that of a blackbody at the same temperature.

Answer 18

Emissivity

Question 19

Radiation from the Sun

 ____: distribution of the emitted spectrum.
 The ____is considered to behave as a black body having a surface temperature of ca. 6000 K.
 At this temperature the radiation emitted (solar radiation) reaches a maximum intensity in the visible part of the electromagnetic part of the spectrum.

Answer 19

Solar spectrum
sun

Question 20

Solar Radiation

___% Reflected, ___% absorbed

 The Earth intercepts about 0.002% of the total
electromagnetic output of the Sun.
 The Earth also emits radiation.

Answer 20

36%
64%

Question 21

Solar vs. Earth’s Radiation

 The _____ is not a perfect absorber nor a perfect emitter (radiator).

 Its emission is less than that of a black body at the same temperature (294 K).

Answer 21

Earth and its atmosphere

Question 22

Earth’s Radiation

 ____ is not smooth unlike that of a black body of the same temperature. There are deep throughs.

 The atmosphere contains trace elements that absorb specific parts of the IR spectrum, particularly CO2, H2O and CH4.

 The deep through in the emission spectrum at 15 myu m: due to CO2

 None of the 15 myu m radiation escapes into space - warming the atmosphere.

 The Earth’s atmosphere acts as a blanket keeping the surface warm - ____

Answer 22

Terrestrial spectrum
Greenhouse effect

Question 23

 The Earth’s surface temperature (ca. 294 K at the tropopause) is ___ than that of the Sun. - It emits radiation in the infrared range (IR).

 Long-wave radiation vs solar radiation - short wave radiation.

Answer 23

much lower

Question 24

___ - incoming solar radiation
___ - radiated out to space

Answer 24

Short-wave
Long-wave Terrestrial radiation

Question 25

Radiation and Energy Budget

 _ of the total radiation absorbed by the Earth is absorbed by the Earth atmosphere system. - warming of the Earth’s atmosphere

 this energy warms the air and drives the atmospheric motion

Answer 25

73%

Question 26

Radiation and Energy Budget

 Over sufficiently long period, the energy budget of the Earth is balanced.

K = L

where
K is the total energy absorbed as the radiation from the sun.
L total energy emitted as radiation from the earth

if :
 K = L: no net warming nor cooling
 K > L: Earth would ____
 K < L: Earth would ____

Answer 26

warm up
cool down

Question 27

Radiation and Energy Budget

 Radiation budget is not in balance at a local level.

• Near the ____: K > L
• Near the ____: K < L

 There must be a mechanism that moves the energy from the equator to the poles.

Answer 27

equator
poles

Question 28

Radiation and Energy Budget

Mechanism that moves the energy from the equator to the poles:

Circulatory movement of matter in both the lower atmosphere and the oceans.

Together, these _____ are responsible for many of the features of the global climate.

There is an overall decrease in the mean surface temperature with increasing latitude (from equator to pole)

Answer 28

circulatory systems

Question 29

Variability in the intensity of sunlightat the surface of earth is due to the ____ of solar radiation

Answer 29

incident angle