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2 - Greenhouse Effect
2 - Greenhouse Effect
Lisa Goddard
goddard@iri.columbia.edu
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x 1
Electromagnetic Spectrum
OUTLINE
• Blackbody Radiation
• Planetary energy balance
• Greenhouse Effect
• Modelling energy balance
• A view of Earth’s radiation balance from space
In other words…
A blackbody is a perfect absorber and perfect
emitter of radiation with 100% efficiency at all
wavelengths
Energy In
Emitted
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x “Earthlight” 11
4πR2Earth x SEarth
Why is Earth visible from space?
Emitted
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x “Earthlight” 13
4πR2Earth x SEarth
Reflection of Solar Radiation:
The Earth’s Albedo
Incoming Reflection
solar radiation
Emission from atmos.
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.)
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.
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
All fluxes are normalized relative to 100 arbitrary units of incident radiation.
Values are approximate.
Sept. 7, 2006 EESC W4400x 22
Modeling the Earth’s
Energy 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.
December March
June September
Incoming Solar Flux (Shortwave) at TOA
April
July
October
December
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....
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