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Atmosphere and Surface Energy Balances
Objectives
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After reading Chapter 4, you should be able to:
- Identify the pathways of solar energy through the troposphere to the Earth's surface: transmission, scattering, diffuse radiation, refraction, albedo (reflectivity), conduction, convection, and advection.
- Describe what happens to insolation when clouds are in the atmosphere and analyze the effect of clouds and air pollution on solar radiation received at ground level.
- Review the energy pathways in the Earth-atmosphere system, the greenhouse effect, and the patterns of global net radiation.
- Plot the daily radiation curves for the Earth's surface, and label the key aspects of incoming radiation, air temperature, and the daily temperature lag.
- Portray typical heat island conditions, and contrast the microclimatology of urban areas with that of surrounding rural environments.
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