Midterm #1- Intro to Climate Science

emissivity

a value between 0 and 1 that represents an object’s efficiency in/ability to emit radiation (1 is emitting everything, perfect blackbody)

heat

motion of atoms/molecules (faster=hotter)

power

rate of energy moving (in Joules per second, J/sec a.k.a. watts)

perfect blackbody has emissivity of ___

1

argon makes up _____

1% of the atmosphere

Average energy: E= _____

1/2kT, where k is Boltzmann’s constant (1.38 x 10^-23 J/K) and T is temperature in K (this gives average energy but some molecules will have more and some will have less)

Boltzmann said that energy is ______ within a piece of matter

randomly distributed among molecules

change in _____ induces changes in _____ (perpendicular to each other!)

electricity, magnetism

infrared light has ____ wavelength, ____ frequency, ____ energy

long, low, low

ultraviolet light has ____ wavelength, ____ frequency, ____ energy

short, high, high

outgoing energy depends on ____

temperature

incoming radiation to the Earth is _____, outgoing is ______

short wave, long wave

ozone is a _____ gas that absorbs ____ radiation but not ______ radiation

nonconservative, incoming, outgoing

What two things are considered blackbodies?

solids and deep liquids

What are the three ways a molecule can move to generate heat/internal energy?

translational, rotational, vibrational

molecules that _______ make more efficient greenhouse gases

stay in the atmosphere for a while

_____ blackbody emits more than a ____ blackbody

hot, cold

celerity=

wavelength x frequency

Blackbody radiation

the emissions from a blackbody, with a unique spectrum dependent on temperature

what does this graph represent?

blackbody emissions curve

Flux spectrum of blackbody radiation at

temperature T is determined by quantum

mechanics and the Planck function- formula?

E=hv, where h is Planck’s constant

What 4 things do we need to define a climate?

spatial info (where), temporal info (when/what period of time), variable we’re looking at, that variable’s average with ± variability

climate

average weather and statistical description in terms of the mean and variability over a period of time

there is less seasonal variation over ____ than ____

ocean, land

wavenumber is

one over wavelength

light is made up of _____

many different frequencies traveling together

As a blackbody gets hotter, _____ and ____

Total energy emitted gets larger, peak displacement changes (the composition of energy changes, different peak/most common wavelength)

if _____, then light is absorbed

frequency of light=frequency of matter

What 3 ways can molecules create vibrational energy?

symmetrical stretch, asymmetrical stretch, bend

Bulk Silicate Earth Model

Earth was formed from the same nebula as the Sun and other planets in the solar system

Elemental abundances are estimated from composition of chondritic meteorites and mantle peridotites

albedo

the proportion of light that an object reflects (value from 0, total absorption, to 1, total reflection)

grey gas is identical blocks of _________ and transparent to _____ incoming energy

noncompressible energy