Questions tagged [atmospheric-radiation]
The atmospheric-radiation tag has no usage guidance.
69 questions
4
votes
1
answer
36
views
How does LIDAR work? Why is scattering not weakening the beam?
Let's say LIDAR is used for atmospheric vertical sounding. If backscattering takes place some amount of the outgoing radiation is scattered back to the LIDAR. But if this is the case, the vertical ...
- 975
2
votes
0
answers
53
views
What is the difference between Radiative Forcing and Energy Budget
I don't understand the difference between radiative forcing and an energy budget. They seem like the same concept to me but I cannot find anything that directly compares them.
2
votes
1
answer
40
views
Estimate EPW AMY parameters from HRRR Analysis
I am working to create Energy Plus Weather (EPW) Actual Meteorological Year (AMY) files from NOAA HRRR Model analysis. The provided links detail the 35 parameters required for the AMY model and ...
- 131
3
votes
0
answers
124
views
Why does the blue hour look pink when watched from an isolated island?
Blue hour is a part of nautical twilight when sky is very blue. This blueness appears because of Chappuis absorption of reddish light in stratospheric ozone.
At later stages of nautical twilight, near ...
- 471
4
votes
4
answers
4k
views
What is technically wrong with Wijngaarden & Happer's paper claiming to show that CO2's contribution to surface warming is saturated?
The paper, Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most
Abundant Greenhouse Gases1, has been reportedly rejected from several major journals. By analysing absorption spectra of greenhouse ...
- 157
3
votes
0
answers
177
views
Estimation of extraterrestrial radiation for latitudes > 66.5° N/S
I'm posting here for the first time, so I hope not to violate any community-specific rules.
In Allen et al. (1998): FAO-56 an equation is presented to estimate extraterrestrial radiation Ra for ...
- 131
2
votes
0
answers
146
views
Why did the air not heat up in this experiment demonstrating the atmospheric greenhouse effect?
In the paper "Experimental Verification of the Greenhouse Effect" (full version: "Verification of the Greenhouse Effect in the Laboratory", Hermann Harde, Michael Schnell 2022), ...
- 129
2
votes
1
answer
144
views
How does a volcanic eruption cool the planet's surface?
For example, after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 according to this paper,
The introduction of large amounts of sulphuric acid aerosol into the stratosphere increases the planetary albedo (...
- 151
5
votes
2
answers
872
views
Why doesn't earth radiate at wavelengths where there is strong absorption?
Having in mind the absorption of IR radiation by various atmospheric gases, why is there almost no outgoing radiation into space where absorption is strong?
At the $CO_2$ 15um wavelength, there is ...
- 975
3
votes
3
answers
208
views
Why do clouds have positive climate feedback although they have a cooling net effect?
In a lecture we learned that instantaneously removing all clouds from earth would give radiation forcing of about 18W/m² [1], leading to significant warming. So clouds, in simple words, cool the earth ...
- 975
3
votes
0
answers
269
views
How can a single layer atmospheric model for the greenhouse effect be consistent with adiabatic temperature gradient and optical depth considerations?
I'm completely lost...In an elementary course on meteorology, we recently learned how to explain the greenhouse effect in terms of a simple single-layer atmosphere model.
Based on the image below ...
- 975
3
votes
2
answers
299
views
Why is dependence of radiation forcing on CO2 concentration logarithmic?
As a newbie on climate science and meteorology I'm trying to understand the almost logarithmic behavior of CO2 concentration on radiation forcing
$$F(c) = A \cdot \ln \frac{c}{c_0}$$
and why there is ...
- 975
6
votes
1
answer
210
views
Interpretation of Mie scattering
I’m usually on Physics SE, but this question seems to fit better into Earth Sciences:
I’m interested in radiation transfer and in particular Mie scattering in the atmosphere. So I did some calculation ...
- 201
5
votes
1
answer
640
views
Why is there a window in the absorption spectrum of Earth's atmosphere at a wavelength of 4 μm?
Looking at the Wikipedia page for absorption bands, it seems to me that there's a sizable window - i.e. a local minimum - in the graph for electromagnetic radiation absorption, as per the edited image ...
- 183
4
votes
1
answer
90
views
Where does this refractive index formula come from: $n_{1} = n - 1 = \frac{77.6P}{T} 10^{-6}$
In this equation, $n_{1} = n - 1 = \frac{77.6P}{T} \cdot 10^{-6}$ the variable P is the total air pressure and T is expressed in Kelvin. This equation describes the refractive index of moist air as EM ...
- 51
5
votes
3
answers
328
views
How does water vapor cool the troposphere?
I have read about the Fixed Anvil Temperature (FAT) hypothesis and wonder why radiative cooling decreases with decreasing water vapor mixing ratio.
Doesn't this stand in contrast with the fact, that ...
- 53
6
votes
0
answers
242
views
What exactly causes this moving orange glow before sunrise?
I've been watching twilights for some time, and noticed that each time there's a very clear sky, an orange-pinkish glow is visible at the solar azimuth when Sun is somewhere between 1° and 5.5° below ...
- 471
5
votes
1
answer
608
views
How to calculate the back radiation from greenhouse gases?
How would one go about calculating the value for back radiation(324 in this diagram) if it wasn't provided.
According to this website, it is "equivalent to 100 percent of the incoming solar ...
- 151
4
votes
2
answers
439
views
How much would 5 gigatons of methane warm the atmosphere compared to 5 gigatons of CO2 if both were released in one go?
I don't know much about science, I'm just curious about how much warming a certain amount of CH4 would cause compared to a similar amount of CO2 (both 5 GtC).
I'm sorry if the question sounded a bit ...
- 319
5
votes
0
answers
254
views
Can the absorbtion of infrared around the 650 wavenumber in water be a substantial cause of converting that spectrum range into other spectra?
CO2 absorbs around the 15 microns wavelenght or wavenumber 650, and radiates in the same but also a somewhat wider range.
However, the top layer of the oceans seem to also convert that spectrum range. ...
- 71
1
vote
2
answers
150
views
Relationship between rainwater and solar radiation
I am an enthusiast in this area and reading some scientific articles on precipitation forecasting and solar irradiation, I was wondering if these two variables have any direct correlation or ...
- 11
4
votes
1
answer
215
views
How to derive the total potential energy of the atmosphere?
In one of Lorenz’s paper (I mean the meteorologists Edward Lorenz), he stated that the total potential energy of the whole atmosphere $P + I$ (means the sum of potential energy and internal energy) is
...
- 103
1
vote
1
answer
170
views
Flux density and albedo
To save the Earth, the surface of the Earth has been covered by silver foil. The foil has a albedo of 0.9. What is the flux density emitted from the surface of the Earth (assume temperature of 50 deg ...
- 155
5
votes
0
answers
136
views
Why is the Regener-Pfotzer maximum (radiation in upper atmosphere) above central California?
The site https://spaceweather.com/ has a section called Space Weather Balloon Data which shows the image below and says:
The data points in the graph above correspond to the peak of the Regener-...
- 6,904
3
votes
1
answer
70
views
Can Horizontal Radiation Fluxes Contribute to Net Column Heating?
I've noticed that in many papers it's common to assume the (daily or longer averaged) vertically integrated radiative heating can be expressed $F_z(\text{TOA})-F_z(\text{SURF})$, where $F_z$ is the ...
- 173
7
votes
1
answer
352
views
Direct and Diffused component of shortwave radiation in ERA5 data
I am following the paper to calculate UTCI using ERA5 meteorological variables.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-020-01900-5?shared-article-renderer
In the paper, the authors have ...
2
votes
2
answers
147
views
If I build a concrete surface on a 1km x 1km area and painted it black, will I create convection (updraft from ground)?
Providing there are low wind conditions and a clear sky, will the 1 km x 1 km black surface create an upward convention?
Let’s say I were to do this at 60$^\circ$ N longitude in march month, the ...
3
votes
1
answer
144
views
How does Earth's thermal radiation into space vary by location and time of day?
CHEOPS (also 1, 2, 3) is a space telescope recently put in low Earth orbit to look for exoplanets around other stars. It uses a cooled detector array and so uses a heat shield to avoid thermal ...
- 6,904
3
votes
0
answers
212
views
How does extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contribute to radiative forcing?
The CO2 absorption spectrum taken at 200 mmHg partial pressure, beam path length = 10 cm, resolution = 4 cm^-1 shows that light can only travel a couple hundred meters before being completely absorbed ...
- 223
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Why is CO2 considered a greenhouse gas? Can you explain the principles? [closed]
I think the title says it all...
3
votes
0
answers
181
views
How to convert solar radiation into equivalent evaporation
I have come across two (apparently) different equations for this purpose. One is mentioned in BASINS software code here
$$Rad\_len [inday^{-1}] = \frac{SolRad[langleysday^{-1}]}{((597.3 - 0.57 * ...
- 779
2
votes
1
answer
131
views
Does depletion of Planck radiation intensity in the upper atmosphere mean that "CO2 has no impact on climate change"?
In his recent book, Rex J. Fleming asserts that "CO2 has no impact on climate change", or, as he summarizes on his website:
There are now over a dozen books available on Amazon.com that point out ...
- 121
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Solar irradiance/radiation difference
I currently read a few papers and one of them stated to forecast solar irradiance using measures of solar radiation.
I hope this question is not trivial as I'm actually from germany, but if there is a ...
- 163
-2
votes
1
answer
192
views
What portion of global warming is caused by radioactive CO2 produced from cosmic rays?
The Earth's magentic field has been weaking recently, and the sun's magnetic field has been weaking recently, and it is a known fact that when either of these magnetic fields weaken (let alone both of ...
- 13
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Effective Temperature of a Planet and Surface Temperature due to Greenhouse Effect
The effective temperature of the Earth is roughly 12 °F (- 11 °C), which means that in thermal equilibrium when it is emitting as much radiation as it is absorbing, the distribution of wavelengths and ...
- 303
6
votes
1
answer
183
views
What is brown carbon?
There is a lot of interest in brown carbon in the atmospheric science community these days. There is a paper in the journal, "Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics" titled, "Black carbon or brown carbon? ...
- 103
5
votes
0
answers
64
views
Amount of scattered vs. direct UV light from the Sun
I was wondering about the common saying that on a sunny, cloud-free day, depending on location, you can get a sunburn even when spending the whole day in the shadows.
Already our blue sky provides ...
- 3,271
6
votes
1
answer
4k
views
How to calculate the solar radiation at any place, any time
The solar radiation is one of the important factors controlling the formation of $O_3$, and thereby impacting the levels of various secondary species in the atmosphere.
However, in the campaign of ...
- 2,489
2
votes
2
answers
917
views
How is surface pressure generally measured, and at what actual height?
In various atmospheric equations, surface pressure is one of the variables used. For example, in calculating the density of air or pressure-corrected relative optical air mass. How is surface pressure ...
- 1,178
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why are solar longwave and terrestrial shortwave radiations neglected in radiation balance models?
For an assignment I was given the question:
Explain why solar radiation is neglected in atmospheric “long wave” calculations and Earth radiation is neglected in atmospheric “short wave” calculations.
...
6
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Why is ozone a greenhouse gas if it absorb UV radiation?
Ozone is considered a greenhouse gas, even though it absorbs shortwave (UV) radiation from the Sun, which does not fit with the definition for greenhouse gases, where they are supposed to:
"absorbs ...
- 17.7k
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is the difference between radiation balance and the global energy balance?
Looking at two diagrams below, they seem to depict the same system. How are they different? Why one is a radiation balance model and the other a global energy balance model?
RADIATION BALANCE MODEL:
...
- 485
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Understanding a diagram of Earth's radiation balance
Trying to understand this image. Can someone tell me if I have the right reasoning here:
Sun has 100% SW shooting to earth
30% of that 100% is reflected by clouds
70% remains
Of that 70%, 45% of that ...
- 485
0
votes
1
answer
197
views
Does being in the air provide any protection from an asteroid?
How does radiation and shock waves from a radioactive asteroid or atomic explosion disperse throughout Earth's atmosphere?
Are there specific areas on Earth that are less likely to receive the shock ...
- 1
1
vote
0
answers
28
views
Looking at the brightest parts of the image how would one find the blackbody curve and wavelength maximum using a radiance calculator?
Look at the brightest parts of the photo and use a radiance calculator to find the blackbody radiation curve (show the plot of the curve) and the wavelength of maximum emission. How do ...
- 485
10
votes
2
answers
822
views
Why is the Earth's shadow blue?
After every sunset, once the sun is gone, I always enjoy seen the belt of venus rising in the other side, followed by the Earth's shadow.
This is a picture I took (you will find better ones online). ...
- 17.7k
2
votes
1
answer
111
views
Why a stratus cloud does not always reach all the way to the ground?
The surface of the ground at night cools down because of outgoing long-wave radiation. In my understanding the cooling of the surface also causes cooling of the adjacent air. If the air contains ...
- 123
3
votes
1
answer
833
views
How to calculate 3-hour flux values in ERA-Interim?
Referring to the post:
https://www.myroms.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3003
I understood how to calculate the slhf and sshf for 03, 06, 09 and 12 time steps. But I have values for 00, 15, 18 ...
- 41
3
votes
1
answer
178
views
How would this experiment's different particle types produce atmospheric reflectivity?
The MIT Technology Review news item Harvard Scientists Moving Ahead on Plans for Atmospheric Geoengineering Experiments discusses a proposed experiment to study in a carefully controlled way the ...
- 6,904
5
votes
4
answers
898
views
Gases that are nearly transparent to solar AND thermal radiation?
I've been curious about if there are any gases in the atmosphere that are nearly transparent to both solar and thermal radiation. CO2 for instance is nearly transparent to solar radiation but is ...
- 151