Jessica Hernandez

Earth's Energy Balance and

Temperatures
Answer Sheet

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Read the pre-assignment PDF file 'Earth's Energy Balance' before attempting this
assignment. Type your Response. After completion, save this WORD file as PDF and
upload it on Blackboard by the due date.

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Q1. Examine the figure below and type your response to the following questions.!
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The graphic below illustrates the Earth's energy balance. On average, every square meter of
the Earth's surface receives 342 Watts of solar energy per second. The left side of the
diagram shows the movement and interaction of incoming solar energy (shown with
yellow shading) with the earth's surface and atmosphere. [Note: Small black arrows
pointing down towards the earth's surface show incoming energy while the arrows pointing up
show the energy reflected by earth]. As you follow the sunbeam down, note that some of the
solar energy is reflected back to the space from the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The rest
gets absorbed by the atmosphere and the earth's surface and is converted to heat. The middle
portion of the diagram illustrates how Earth loses heat via evaporation (Latent Heat) and direct
heat transfer (e.g., warm air rise via Thermals). The right side of the diagram indicates the
outgoing energy from the Earth in form of longwave (aka infrared) radiation (shown with
shaded color). In summary, the Earth's surface loses heat to the atmosphere via convection,
evaporation, and radiation. Earth's atmosphere re-radiates much of this heat back to the earth's
surface. !

Examine the graphic below. Assume the total energy arriving at the top of the

Earth atmosphere is 342 Watt, which is equal to 100%!

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Let's start with a sample question and its solution!

Question: What percentage of incoming energy is reflected by the Earth's surface and
atmosphere?!

Answer: The diagram suggest that Earth surface reflect 30 Watts and Atmosphere reflects 77
Watts. Thus adding these two gives 107 Watts. To find percentage, divide 107 by 342 and then
multiply the result by 100. The answer is 31.3%. In other words, the Earth's surface and
atmosphere reflect ~ 31% of the incoming solar energy.!

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Using the above example as a guide, answer the following questions.!
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a. What percentage of incoming solar radiation is reflected by the Earth's surface only?!
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9 %!

b. What percentage of incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere?!

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20 %!
c.

What percentage of incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's surface?!

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49 %!

Now, let's focus on the middle portion of the diagram. !

The graphic on the previous page suggests that the Earth's surface absorbs 161 Watts of solar
energy, which is converted into heat. The Earth must eventually lose this heat to maintain the
energy balance. !

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d. What percentage of incoming energy absorbed by the Earth's surface (168 Watts) is
released back to the atmosphere due to evapotranspiration !
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23 %!

Now, take a look at the right side of the diagram. You can see that the Earth's surface emits 390
Watts of energy in form of Longwave radiation. Of this amount, Atmosphere retains 350 Watts
and the remaining 40-Watts escape directly into the outer space. !

e. What percentage of outgoing energy from the Earth's surface (i.e., in form of Longwave
radiation) is redirected back to its surface by the Atmosphere?!
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83 %!

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f.

Explain what process is at work that is

responsible for redirecting the longwave
radiation from the atmosphere back to
the Earth's surface.!

-Green house gases !

The process is the green house
effect,which is responsible for
energy emitted back from earths
surface, then infrared radiation to
warm earths surface and
atmosphere.!

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The figure (on the right) illustrates how greenhouse effect works. The figure shows the
effectiveness of selected gases in absorbing incoming short short-wave radiation (left
side of graphic) and outgoing long-wave radiation (right side of graphic). The vertical
thickness of light blue areas represents the
percentage of radiation absorbed by these
gases. !

1. Is water vapor a good or bad absorber of

long-wave radiation? !
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Bad absorber !
2. Is nitrogen a good or bad absorber of
incoming solar radiation?!
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Good absorber!
3. Which gas is most effective in absorbing
outgoing radiation emitted by Earth?!
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Co2 carbon dioxide!
4. Which two gases block incoming Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun?!
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O2 oxygen and ozone O3!

The figure on right shows the monthly temperature curves for two cities, A and B that
are located at approximately 30oN latitude. On any date, both cities receive the same
intensity and duration of solar radiation. Refer to this figure to answer the following.!

1. Which city has the highest and

lowest monthly mean temperature?!
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City B highest and City A
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lowest !
2. Which city has the greatest annual
temperature range (i.e., the
difference between highest and
lowest monthly mean temperatures)?!
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City B!
3. Which city maintains more uniform
temperatures throughout the year
and what could be the reason for
that??!
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City A!

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The graphic below shows monthly

temperatures for two cities in South America. Examine this graphic carefully and answer
the following questions.!

1. What is the average monthly difference in temperature between these cities (provide
your answer in oC). (To find the average difference, estimate the temperature
difference for each month, add them
together, and then divide the result
by 12.!

Average is 22.75 ~ 23 degrees

Celsius is the difference !

2. As you can tell from the graphic, La

Paz is located at high altitudes in the
Andes while Concepcin is at the
sea level. Using the normal Lapse
rate (as described in the preassignment reading); calculate the
altitude of La Paz (in meters above
the sea level).!

3,538 meters is the altitude of

La Paz above sea level!

The graphic below shows monthly temperatures for Eureka (California) and New York
City. Both cities are on the same latitude and both are coastal cities as well. And yet,
they have quite different distributions of monthly temperature. The term 'Windward' on
the graphic refers to the fact that Eureka experience winds that blow from the ocean
onto the land. Conversely, the term 'Leeward' means that the winds blow from land onto
the ocean.!

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1. What is the annual range in monthly temperatures for New York?!

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24 degrees celsius !
2. What is the annual range in monthly temperature for Eureka!
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7 degrees celsius !