RADIATION: Part 2

Meteo 101: Introduction to Meteorology

March 17, 2021
Review of Fundamental Concepts

1. There are three ways to transfer the

heat: Convection, Conduction, and
Radiation. (We will continue discussing
the latter)

2. Radiant energy or Radiation is an

energy we received from the sun. In this
method, energy can be transferred from
one object to another without the space
between them necessarily being heated.
Review of Fundamental Concepts

3. Radiation travels in the

forms of waves that release
energy when they are
absorbed by an object.
Radiation as a wave
A physical phenomenon
characterized by its frequency,
wavelength, and amplitude

Frequency – the number

of crests that pass to a
given point within one
second
BASIC PROPERTIES OF RADIATION
(WAVELENGTH, FREQUENCY, AND ENERGY)

speed of light (C) = frequency (ν) x wavelength (λ)

Wavelength is inversely
λ = C/ ν
proportional to frequency

Energy of the Packet = Planck’s constant (h) x ν

Frequency is directly
proportional to energy
• Radiation as a wave has a
magnetic and electrical
properties and called as the
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES.

• Electromagnetic waves don’t

need molecules to propagate
them. And they travel (in a
vacuum) at a constant speed
of nearly 300,000km – the
speed of light.
ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVE
The sun emits radiation at almost all wavelengths, but because its surface is extremely
hot—6000 K it radiates the majority of its energy at relatively short wavelengths. If
we look at the amount of radiation given by the sun at each wavelength, we obtain
the sun’s electromagnetic spectrum (figure below).

some of the waves have We use the unit of measurement called a micrometer (μm), to
exceedingly short lengths. measure short lengths.

1 μm is equal to one-millionth of a meter (m) or

1 micrometer (μm) = 0.000001 m = 10^-6m.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 usually
measured in
hertz
(Frequency)

Carries more
energy (Electron Usually measured in
volts) micrometers (Wavelength)
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/special_topics/teach/sp_climate_change/p_emspectrum_interactive.html

To understand the
relationship between
wavelengths, frequency, and
energy, please visit this
website.
A few important ideas and facts to remember about the concept of radiation:

1. All things (with a temperature above absolute zero), no matter

how big or small, emit radiation. The air, your body, flowers,
trees, Earth, and the stars are all radiating a wide range of
electromagnetic waves. The energy originates from rapidly
vibrating electrons, billions of which exist in every object.
2. The wavelengths of radiation that an object emits depend primarily on the object’s
temperature. The higher the object’s temperature, the shorter are the wavelengths of
emitted radiation. By the same token, as an object’s temperature increases, its peak
emission of radiation shifts toward shorter wavelengths. This relationship between
temperature and wavelength is called Wien’s law* (or Wien’s displacement law) after
the German physicist Wilhelm Wien (pronounced Ween, 1864–1928) who discovered
it.

3. Objects that have a high temperature emit radiation at a greater rate or

intensity than objects with a lower temperature. Thus, as the temperature of an
object increases, more total radiation (over a given surface area) is emitted
each second. This relationship between temperature and emitted radiation is
known as the Stefan-Boltzmann law** after Josef Stefan (1835–1893) and
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), who devised it.
 the sun emits a maximum amount of
radiation at wavelengths near 0.5 μm.

Since our eyes are sensitive to

radiation between 0.4 and 0.7 μm,
these waves reach the eye and
stimulate the sensation of color. This
portion of the spectrum is the visible
region (color of the rainbow,
ROYGBIV), and the radiant energy
that reaches our eye is called
visible light.

The longest wavelengths of visible light

The color violet is the correspond to the color red.
shortest wavelength Wavelengths longer than red (0.7 μm) are
of visible light. called infrared (IR).
Wavelengths shorter
than violet (0.4 μm)
are ultraviolet (UV).
 The hot sun emits only a part of its energy
in the infrared portion of the spectrum, the
relatively cool earth emits almost all of its
energy at infrared wavelengths.

IR
Since the sun radiates the majority of its
energy at much shorter wavelengths than
does Earth, solar radiation is often called
shortwave radiation, whereas Earth’s
radiation is referred to as longwave (or
terrestrial) radiation.
QUESTION:
If Earth and all things on it are continually radiating
energy, why doesn’t everything get progressively
colder?

ANSWER:
All objects not only radiate
energy, they absorb it as well.

If an object radiates more

energy than it absorbs, it
becomes colder; On a sunny day, Earth’s surface
warms by absorbing more energy At night, the Earth cools by
If it absorbs more energy than from the sun and the atmosphere radiating more energy than it
than it radiates absorbs from its surroundings.
it emits, it becomes warmer.
When an object emits and absorbs
energy at equal rates, its temperature
remains constant.
The rate at which something radiates and absorbs energy depends strongly on its surface characteristics, such
as color, texture, and moisture, as well as temperature.

EXAMPLE: a black object in direct sunlight is a good absorber of solar radiation. It converts energy from the sun into
internal energy, and its temperature ordinarily increases. You need only walk barefoot on a black asphalt road on a
summer afternoon to experience this.

At night, the blacktop road will cool quickly by emitting infrared energy and, by early morning, it may be cooler than
surrounding surfaces.
Any object that is a perfect absorber
(that is, absorbs all the radiation that
strikes it) and a perfect emitter (emits
the maximum radiation possible at its
given temperature) is called a
blackbody.

Blackbodies do not have to be colored black;

they simply must absorb and emit all possible
radiation.
• Since Earth’s surface and the sun absorb and radiate with nearly 100 percent
efficiency for their respective temperatures, they both behave as blackbodies.

• When we look at Earth from space, we see that half of it is in sunlight, the other half is
in darkness. The outpouring of solar energy constantly bathes Earth with radiation,
while Earth, in turn, constantly emits infrared radiation.

• If we assume that there is no other method of transferring heat, then, when the rate of
absorption of solar radiation equals the rate of emission of infrared Earth radiation, a
state of radiative equilibrium is achieved.

• The average temperature at which this occurs is called the radiative equilibrium
temperature.

• At this temperature, Earth (behaving as a blackbody) is absorbing solar radiation and

emitting infrared radiation at equal rates, and its average temperature does not
change.
Assignment:

Does the Earth’s atmosphere act as a perfect blackbody?

To answer this,
1. Please study this section SELECTIVE ABSORBERS AND THE ATMOSPHERIC
GREENHOUSE EFFECT in page 37 of Ahrens, C., & Henson, R. (2018).
Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere (8th ed.). Boston,
MA: Cengage Learning.

2. Study the concept of atmospheric windows