Heating  

the  Earth’s  
Atmosphere

NWS
Heat  Exchange  Mechanisms  (Heat  Transfer)

There  are  several  

important  heat  transfer  
mechanisms  that  operate  
in  the  Earth  system.
Conduction — transfer  of  
heat  from  molecule  to  
molecule  within  a  
substance.    Heat  transfer  
occurs  from  warmer  to  
colder  regions.    

Radiation — heat  transferred   as  electromagnetic   radiation  

Convection — transfer  of  heat  by  mass  movement  of  fluid  due  to  
differences  in  buoyancy.    Important  for  liquids  and  gases  (generally  not  
solids).
Advection — heat  is  transferred   when  matter  is  transferred   from  one  
place  to  another  (winds  and  ocean  currents).
The  Sun  emits  
radiation  at  
almost  all  
wavelengths,  
but  its  maximum  
output  is  at  
relatively  short  
wavelengths  at  
about  500  nm  
wavelength  in  
the  visible  
region  of  the  
spectrum  -­
green  light.   By Nick84 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The  hotter  Sun  radiates  more  energy  at  shorter  wavelength  
than  the  cooler  Earth.    
The  left  spectrum  shows  the  solar  output  (in  the  visible  region)  
and  the  right  spectrum  shows  the  Earth's  emission  that  peaks  in  
the  longer  wavelength  infrared  region.    
The  Earth  radiates  
almost  all  of  its  
energy  between  5  
and  25  mm.  

NASA: Robert Simmon

The  figure  shows  how  different  parts  of  the  Earth  absorb  
or  reflect  incoming  solar  radiation.    

NASA
The  Fate  of  Incoming  Solar  Radiation
Solar  radiation  strikes  an  object,  it  may  interact  in  one  of  several  
different  ways:

1.  Transmission -­
some  materials  are  
transparent  to  
specific  
wavelengths  and  
pass  (transmit)  
through  the  
object/material  
without  absorption.  

NASA
The  Fate  of  Incoming  Solar  Radiation
2.    Absorption -­ solar  
radiation  is  absorbed,  
converted  to  heat  and  
results  in  an  increase  
in  temperature.  
~19%  of  solar  
radiation  is  absorbed  
by  the  Earth’s  
atmosphere  and  
clouds  (mostly  shorter  
wavelengths  such  as  
NASA
UV).

Visible  light  reaches  the  Earth’s  surface  relatively  unattenuated.  

~51%  of  incoming  radiation  is  absorbed  by  the  Earth’s  surface  
(land  and  ocean).    
The  Fate  of  Incoming  Solar  Radiation

3.    Radiation   may  
“bounce  off”  the  
object  without  being  
absorbed  or  
transmitted  through  
reflection (and  
scattering).    
~30%  of  solar  
radiation  is  reflected  
by  the  Earth’s  
NASA
atmosphere,  clouds  
and  surface.    

8
Reflection is  when  light  bounces  off   Surface Albedo  (%)
an  object.    Reflection differs  from   Asphalt 5-­10
scattering in  that  reflection  of  light  is  
Sand  (white) 30-­60
sent  backwards  (rather  than  in  all  
directions).     Soil  (dark) 5-­15
Soil  (light) 25-­30
Albedo is  the  percent  radiation  that  
is  bounced  from  a  surface  compared   Snow 80-­90
to  the  amount  of  light  initially  striking   Forest 5-­10
the  surface  -­ aka reflectivity.     Water ~8

NCSU Climate Education for K-12

The top figure shows
the albedo (reflectivity)
of the Earth’s surface
(January 1987). Note
the low reflectivity of the
ocean surface and the
high reflectivity of the
ice and snow surfaces
at high latitude.
The bottom image
shows the atmospheric
and surface reflectivity.

NASA  E arth  Radiation  B udget  E xperiment

Note the higher
reflectivity over the
ocean surface due to
clouds in the
atmosphere.
The  figure  on  the  right  
shows  a  image  of  Lake  
Superior  contoured  for  
albedo.    
The  lake  appears  dark  and  
has  an  albedo  of  <10%.    
The  Earth's  rocky  surface  
has  an  intermediate  albedo  
of  ~30%.    
The  snow-­ and  ice-­covered  
regions  have  albedos  of  
>50%.  

NOAA AVHRR

The  Earth  has  an  average  albedo  of  ~30%.  

Heating  the  Atmosphere:  The  Greenhouse  Effect

The  Sun  radiates  

most  of  its  energy  
as  short  
wavelength  visible  
light  which  is  
absorbed  by  the  
Earth’s  surface  
(~51%).    
Absorption  of  the  
energy  heats  the  
Columbia University: Vic DiVenere
Earth’s  surface.    
The  Earth’s  
surface  then  
reradiates  longer  
wavelength  
infrared  radiation.    
Gas  molecules  in  
the  atmosphere  
are  transparent  to  
the  incoming  
shorter  
wavelength  solar  
radiation  and  most  
of  it  passes  
through  the  
atmosphere  
without  being   Columbia University: Vic DiVenere

absorbed.    

H2O  and  CO2 molecules  are  absorb  longer  wavelength  infrared  

radiation  radiated  by  the  Earth’  surface.    
The  Earth’s  
atmosphere  is  
heated  from  the  
bottom  up.
The  heating  of  the  
atmosphere  by  the  
Earth’s  surface  is  
known  as  the  
greenhouse   effect  
-­ it  keeps  the  
Earth  up  to  15°C   Columbia University: Vic DiVenere

warmer  than  it  

would  be  without  
the  greenhouse  
effect.    
Differential  Heating  of  Earth’s  Surface
Even  though  the  
continents  and  oceans  
may  receive  the  same  
amount  of  sunlight,  
they  heat  at  different  
rates.
The  image  shows  the  
Earth’s  surface  
temperature   in  
January  (winter  in  the  
northern  hemisphere).

Note  that  adjacent  continents  and  oceans  have  different  temperatures.  

We  know  that  different  surfaces  heat  at  different  rates  -­ would  you  
rather  walk  barefoot  on  asphalt  or  grass  on  a  hot  day?
In  general,  soil  and  rock  heat  up  and  cool  off  more  quickly  than  does  
water  (heat  capacity).    
The  reason  that  different  
substances  heat  up  or  cool  off  at  
different  rates  is  due  to  a  property  
know  as  the  specific  heat  capacity
of  a  substance.    
Specific heat capacity, also known
as specific heat is the measure of
the heat energy required to raise the
temperature of one gram of a
substance by 1 K (or 1°C). Note  that  water  has  a  specific  
heat  capacity  that  is  more  than  
Substance Specific  Heat  Capacity  
4x  that  of  land  surface  materials.    
Dry  Soil 0.80  J/(g·K)
That  means  that  it  takes  more  
Dry  Sand 0.83  J/(g·K) than  4x  as  much  energy  to  raise  
Granite 0.79  J/g·K) the  temperature   of  water  by  one  
Water  (25°C) 4.18  J/(g·K) degree.

Sand  and  water  absorb  heat  (energy)  at  approximately  the  rate,  the  
difference  is  the  response  of  the  material  as  measured  by  temperature.    
Solar  Insolation
Another  observation  that  
can  be  made  about  the  
top  map  is  that  polar  
regions  are  colder.    This  
not  due  to  differential  
heating  of  surface  
materials  but  is  due  to  the  
amount  of  solar  radiation  
that  can  reach  the  Earth  
surface.    
The  bottom  image  shows  
the  average  amount  of  
solar  radiation  reaching  
the  Earth’s  surface.    Note  
that  this  is  strongly  
controlled  by  latitude.    
17
Simple  Example: Sea  breezes  are  due  to  the  differential  
heating  of  land  and  water.
During  the  day,  the  land  surface  heats  the  lower  atmosphere  and  
the  air  begins  to  rise  (updraft).    Cooler  sea  air  moves  inland  to  
replace  the  upward  moving  air.    
A  sea  breeze is  a  type  of  thermal  circulation.    It  is  the  differential
heating  rates  of  land  and  water  that  causes  these  local  winds.    
The  sea  breeze blows  from  the  sea  toward  the  land.    The  
strongest  winds  occur  at  the  beach.
Since  the  strongest  
thermal  gradient  occurs  
late  in  the  afternoon,  the  
sea  breeze is  strongest  
then.    
The  ascending  air  may  
result  in  cloud  formation  
and  thunderstorms.   physicalgeography.net Michael  P idwirny &  S cott  Jones
This  Space  Shuttle  image  
shows  the  development  of  
clouds  over  the  land  surface  
of  Florida  caused  by  sea  
breeze circulation  cells.    
Florida  is  subject  to  a  lot  of  
thunderstorms  during  the  
afternoon  because  the  sea  
breezes  from  the  Gulf  and  
Atlantic  can  converge  over  
the  peninsula   leading  to  
atmospheric  instability.     NASA
Another  example: Land  breezes  occur  because  of  the  
differential  cooling  of  land  and  water.    
At  night,  the  land  cools  more  quickly  than  the  water.    
The  warmest  air  at  the  surface  of  the  Earth  is  over  the  water  and  
it  will  begin  to  rise  buoyantly
The  sea  breeze  reverses  itself  and  becomes  a  land  breeze —
flow  from  the  land  to  the  water.    
In  the  region  of  
ascending  air,  cloud  
formation  is  common.    
On  the  east  coast,  it  
is  common  to  have  
clouds  over  the  land  
during  the  day  and  
over  the  ocean  at  
night.  
physicalgeography.net Michael  P idwirny &  S cott  Jones
The  image  on  the  right  
shows  the  development  
of  clouds  over  Lake  
Huron  as  the  result  of  a  
land  breeze.    
The  clouds  develop  in  
the  region  of  ascending  
air  associated  with  the  
land  breeze circulation  
cell.  
The  image  on  the  left  shows  
towering  cumulus  clouds  off  the  
east  coast  of  Florida  shortly  after  
sunrise.    Cloud  development    
associated  with  land  breezes
may  become  strong  
thunderstorms  if  there  is  even  
more  lift  and/or  instability.