METO 621 - ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION

 

 

HOMEWORK #1

 

DUE FEBRUARY 11, 2010



 

(1)        ALambertian disk of radius a emits an isotropic intensity I. Show that the outwardflux at a point lying on the axis of the disk, a distance z from the center ofthe disk, is given by:

 

(2)        The effect of thevarious greenhouse gases on the radiative forcing may be crudely estimated bysetting the effective transmission as  where is the opacity due to the species, Suppose that the concentration of a single species(say CO2) were increased from  to :

            (a)Show that the radiative forcing is given by

(b) Show that for a CO2 doubling (forwhich ), the required percentage change in opacity is only 3.4%.What factors tend to reduce the radiative effectiveness of a doubling of CO2

  

(3)        Explain the following terms:

                        (A)Climate sensitivity.

                        (B)Climate feedback.

                        (C)The gain of a climate system