The Greenhouse Effect

Lisa Goddard
goddard@iri.columbia.edu
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x 1
Electromagnetic Spectrum

Sensitivity of human eyes to EM radiation

 Definition of visible spectrum

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Absorption Profile of Liquid Water

Absorption coefficient for liquid water as a function of linear frequency.

The visible region of the frequency spectrum is indicated by the vertical dashed lines.
Note that
Sept. the scales are logarithmic in both
7, 2006 EESCdirections
W4400x. 3
(From Classical Electrodynamics, by J. D. Jackson)
 Main Points
• Energy balance: In=Out (in equilibrium)
• Greenhouse Effect: Difference between
surface temperature/radiation &
Earth’s effective temperature/radiation

OUTLINE
• Blackbody Radiation
• Planetary energy balance
• Greenhouse Effect
• Modelling energy balance
• A view of Earth’s radiation balance from space

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 Blackbody: Definition
A blackbody is a hypothetical body made up of molecules that
absorb and emit electromagnetic radiation in all parts of the
spectrum
– All incident radiation is absorbed (hence the term black), and
– The maximum possible emission is realized in all wavelength
bands and in all directions

In other words…
A blackbody is a perfect absorber and perfect
emitter of radiation with 100% efficiency at all
wavelengths

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 Planck Function &
Blackbody Radiation

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 Note logarithmic
scale

Blackbody emission curves for the Sun and Earth.

The Sun emits more energy at all wavelengths.

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 Fun with BB Radiation
Check out how Planck distributions evolve with
temperature

• Planck Function, spectrum, and color

• http://cs.clark.edu/~mac/physlets/BlackBody/blackbody.htm

• BlackBody, The Game!

• http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/guidry/java/blackbody/blackbody.html

• Planck Law Radiation Distributions

• http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/guidry/java/planck/planck.html

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 Blackbody Equilibrium
(Energy Conservation)

Energy In

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 Effect of latitude on solar flux

The solar flux of beam 1 is equal to that of beam 2.

However, when beam 2 reaches the Earth it spreads
over an area larger than that of beam 1. The ratio
between the areas (see figure above) varies like the The effect of the tilting earth
inverse cosine of latitude, reducing the energy per unit surface is equivalent to the
area from equator to pole. What happens at the pole? tilting of the light source
 Blackbody Equilibrium
(Energy Conservation)

Energy In = Energy Out

Emitted
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x “Earthlight” 11
4πR2Earth x SEarth
Why is Earth visible from space?

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 Blackbody Equilibrium
(Energy Conservation)

Energy In = Energy Out

Consider albedo


Emitted
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x “Earthlight” 13
4πR2Earth x SEarth
Reflection of Solar Radiation:
The Earth’s Albedo

•The ratio between

incoming and
reflected radiation
at the top of the
atmosphere (TOA)
is referred to as the
planetary albedo.
•The albedo varies
between 0 and 1.
Components of the Earth’s albedo and their value in % and the processes
that affect incoming solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere
 Blackbody Equilibrium
• What’s missing is the atmosphere

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 Greenhouse Effect

Incoming Reflection
solar radiation
Emission from atmos.

Transmission Emission from atmos.

Emission from surface

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 Absorption of Infrared (Longwave)
Radiation in Earth’s Atmosphere

Absorption of 100% means that no radiation penetrates the atmosphere. The nearly complete absorption
of radiation longer than 13 micrometers is caused by absorption by CO2 and H2O. Both of these gases
also absorb solar radiation in the near infrared (wavelengths between about 0.7 μm and 5 μm).
The absorption feature at 9.6 micrometers is caused by ozone.
(From data originally from R. M. Goody and Y. L. Yung, Atmospheric Radiation, 2nd ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, Figure 1.1.)

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1 Law of Thermodynamics
st

dEint = dQ – dW
The internal energy Eint of a system tends to increase if
energy is added as heat Q and tends to decrease if energy
is lost as work W done by the system.

The First Law of Thermodynamics: Four Special Cases

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 1 Law of Thermodynamics
st

dEint = dQ – dW
Earth’s atmosphere: (1) Constant volume: W=0
(in equilibrium) (2) Sun is approx. constant
dQ = 0 (although Q > 0)
(3) Therefore: dEint = 0

If Earth’s [effective] temperature is constant (dE = 0) then how

does surface temperature increase?

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 Some general properties of absorption
by greenhouse gases (for λ>5μm)
Molecule Lifetime Concentration Spectral Range Relative
(years) (ppbv) (μm) Forcing*
CO2 2 3.39 x 103 13.5-16.5 (center @ 15) 1
(Carbon Dioxide) also 5.2, 9.4, 10.4
O3 0.1-0.3 variable 9.0 & 9.6
(Ozone) also 5.75, 14.1
N2O 120 300 7.8 & 17.0 206
(Nitrous Oxide)

CH4 5-10 1700 7.7 21

(Methane)

CFCl3 65 0.26 8 - 12 12,400

(CFC11)

CF2Cl2 110 0.54 10.5 – 11.4 15,800

(CFC12)

CF3Cl 400 0.007 8.9 - 9.3

(CFC13)

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 Radiative Transfer Processes

Visible (incoming solar radiation)

– absorption by air molecules
– absorption by the earth's surface
– scattering by clouds and earth's surface

Infrared (outgoing terrestrial radiation)

– absorption/emission by air molecules
– absorption/emission by clouds

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 Earth’s Globally Averaged
Atmospheric Energy Budget

All fluxes are normalized relative to 100 arbitrary units of incident radiation.
Values are approximate.
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 Modeling the Earth’s
Energy Balance

• Energy balance models (Global) – Figure

3-19 from Kump et al. is essentially
schematic for global EBM

• Radiative-convective models (1-D or 2-D)

or single-column models (1-D)

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 Example: Energy budget of column
of atmosphere-ocean system
S
(=net solar in) F+(z=)
S = absorbed solar radiation

F+() = outgoing infrared flux

Atmosphere

(outgoing longwave radiation, OLR)

Fah Fah = horizontal energy flux in atmos.

Foh = horizontal energy flux in ocean

Fv(z=0)
Fv(0) = atmos. to ocean energy flux
Foh
Ocean

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 Radiation Balance

The annual mean, average around latitude circles, of the balance between the solar radiation absorbed
at the ground (in blue) and the outgoing infrared radiation from Earth into space (in red).
The two curves must balance completely over the entire globe, but not at every single latitude.
In the tropics, there is an access of radiation (solar radiation absorbed acceeds outgoing terrastrial radiation)
in middle and high latitudes all the way to the poles, there is a deficit (Earth is radiating into space more
than it receives from the sun). The atmosphere and ocean systems are forced to move about by this
imbalance, and bring heat by convection and advection from equator to the poles.

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Earth Radiation Budget
from Space: the Spatial
Pattern
 Incoming Solar Flux (Shortwave) at TOA
(TOA = Top Of Atmosphere)

December March

June September
 Incoming Solar Flux (Shortwave) at TOA

320 330 340 350 360 (W/m2)

January

April

July

October

December

The globally-averaged, monthly values of

incoming solar radiation at the top of the
atmosphere showing the changes due to the
change in the distance between the Earth
and the Sun.
 Reflected Solar at TOA

December March

June September
 Planetary Albedo

December March

June September
Earth’s Surface Properties as seen from
Space
Global Rainfall - a Proxy for Clouds
 Net Shortwave (Solar) Radiation
(Includes albedo)

December March

June September
 Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) at TOA

December March

June September
 Net Incoming Radiation

December March

June September
 Surface vs. TOA Longwave
•From surface temperature
data we can calculate the
surface outgoing longwave
radiation by using the
Stefan-Boltzmann law and
by assuming emissivity* of
0.95
•Compare this with the
Annual mean surface outgoing IR
outgoing logwave radiation
at the top of the
atmosphere....

* emissivity: Natural surfaces are not perfect black

bodies. They absorb and emit only some of the
amount predicted by the Stefan-Boltzman Law. The
ratio between actual and predicted emission is the
emissivity.
Annual mean TOA outgoing IR
 Greenhouse Effect

The difference between the longwave radiation from the Earth’s surface and OLR is
the greenhouse effect. Note the strong GH effect in areas which are dominated by
deep tropical clouds that precipitate a lot (above). These clouds reach high into the
atmosphere (more than 10 Km) where the temperature is low, thus the radiative
longwave flux from their tops is relatively small. At the same time the surface
underneath is warm and the surface emitted longwave radiation is almost entirely
trapped in the cloudy atmosphere.
Websites:
 
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/Emissions.html

http://gaw.kishou.go.jp/wdcgg.html

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

http://icp.giss.nasa.gov/education/methane/intro/greenhouse.html

http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid340.php

http://www.agu.org/eos_elec/99148e.html (Vol. 80, No. 39, September 28, 1999, p.

453)

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