ATMO 300a General Meteorology - Physical

Study Guide for Exam 2

Source of radiation

• Blackbody radiation
• ideal and non-ideal blackbody radiators
• radiative energy per area per second
• spectrum of radiation
• Wien's law for ideal blackbodies

Radiation after leaving source

• inverse square law
• absorption
• scattering
• solar constant

Beer's law: absorption and single scattering in a gas or cloud

• albedo and tranmitivity and their dependence on cloud thickness

Radiation reaching surface

• How does the absorbed radiation depend on elevation angle and albedo?

Average blackbody temperature of a planet

• average surface temperature of a planet - greenhouse effect with one layer of atmosphere and n layers of atmosphere

Daily and seasonal changes in radiation

• variation of elevation angle during day
• variation of elevation angle at noon at different seasons and latitude
• variation of day length with latitude and season
• change of sunrise and sunset azimuth angles with latitude and season
• How can you determine latitude from sun's elevation at noon?
• average radiation absorbed at surface during day
• net radiation to surface

Longitude vs local time

• universal time
• How can you measure longitude with a watch?
• time zones

Twilight