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7.7: Summary and Final Tasks

  • Page ID
    3395
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    Two applications of the theory of atmospheric radiation have been presented. The most important concepts used are:

    • everything radiates
    • solar visible irradiance strikes Earth on one side, but Earth radiates in the infrared in all directions
    • the total energy for solar visible radiation absorbed in the Earth systemclosely balances the total energy for the infrared radiation going out to space
    • the atmosphere is highly transparent in the visible and weakly transparent in the infrared.

    For climate, these principles mean that water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases radiate energy to Earth’s surface, keeping it warmer than it would be if the atmosphere did not have these gases. For satellite infrared observations, some wavelength bands are in windows, so that the satellites see radiation from Earth’s surface. Other bands are completely absorbed by water vapor or carbon dioxide, so that the infrared getting to the satellite comes from the top of the water vapor column. Clouds are opaque in the infrared, so the satellite sees their tops, which are radiating at the temperature of that altitude.

    Reminder - Complete all of the Lesson 7 tasks!

    You have reached the end of Lesson 7! Double-check that you have completed all of the activities before you begin Lesson 8.


    This page titled 7.7: Summary and Final Tasks is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by William Brune (John A. Dutton: e-Education Institute) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.