whatdosatellitesmeasure-oceanbiogeochemistrylab.docVIP

Radiation, atmospheric radiative transfer, and atmospheric correction Relationship between radiation wavelength and frequency ? = c/? where c is the speed of light (299,792,458 m s-1 or 3e8 m s-1), ? is the wavelength of the radiation (m), and ? is the frequency (cycles s-1) Violet light (400 nm) has a frequency of v = c/? = 3e8 m s-1/400e-9 m = 7.49e14 cycles s-1 1 cycle s-1 = 1 Hz Violet light has a frequency of 7.49e14 Hz or 74,900 GHz The 18.5 GHz frequency has a wavelength of ? = c/??= 3e8 m s-1/18.5e9 cycles/sec = 0.016 m =1.6 cm For convenience, short wavelength radiation is given as wavelength and long wavelength radiation as frequency The energy in a photon is related to its wavelength via e = hc/? where h is Plank’s constant (6.63 e-34 J s) For wavelength in nm, this reduces to e = (1.988e-16)/? J A violet photon (400 nm) has 1.988e-16/??? J or 4.97e-19 J A red photon (700 nm) has 2.84e-19 J or 57% of that at 400 nm Solar Radiation The amount of energy emitted from an object is proportional to that objects temperature Stephan-Boltzman equation A black body is a perfect absorber (Absorptivity = 1) and emitter (emissivity=1) An abstraction but some materials come close. Emissivity of pure water is 0.993 For a “black body” the radiant flux (J s-1 or W) emitted per unit area is a function of temperature (T) according to M = ?T4 where ? is 5.67e-8 W m-2 K-4 ? is the Stephan-Boltzman constant How is this relevant to the greenhouse effect? Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere absorb radiation, causing them to heat up. Because they have a temperature, they emit radiation back toward the earth. Our radiation comes from the sun, which has a temperature of about 5800K Therefore, the sun emits 63.4e6 W m-2 By the time that radiation gets to Earth, 150e6 km away, its reduced to 1373 W m-2 This is the Solar Constant Extraterrestrial solar spectrum is similar to a black body at 6000K The spectral region of maximum radiation is