Heating Earth's Surface and Atmosphere - Chapter 2

• latitude & longitude (chapter pdf file)
• rotation
• revolution
• perihelion - closest to sun / aphelion - farthest from sun - animation
  • perihelion = 91 million miles from sun
  • aphelion   = 95.5 million miles from sun
• eccentricity interactive animation (earth eccentricity = .017)
• Solar System Plane of the Ecliptic (inner planets, outer planets)
• inclination of the axis
• solstices and equinoxes
• Earth - Sun Relationships (animation)
• Tropic of Cancer - 23 1/2^oN
• Tropic of Capricorn - 23 1/2^oS
• circle of illumination
• length of day
• Analemma
• seasons
• sun angles by seasons (table)
• Calculating Noon Sun Altitude Angle
• Calculating Noon Sun Zenith Angle
• Insolation spreading by latitude
• changes in mean monthly temperatures with changes in latitude

Forms of Energy

• kinetic energy
• potential energy
• other kinds of energy

Temperature

• sensible heat
• latent heat
• Phase Change Calculations (covered in chapter 4)

Mechanisms of Heat Transfer

• conduction
• convection
  • thermal
  • advection
• The three mechanisms of heat transfer (graphic)
• radiation
  • solar radiation
  • wavelength
  • types of solar radiation
  • UV Index
    • SPF explanation
• interactions between solar radiation and the atmosphere
  • reflection
  • scattering
    • blue skies
  • albedo
  • absorption
• radiation emitted by the earth (incoming/outgoing solar radiation graph)
• atmospheric windows
• Greenhouse Effect
• role of clouds in heating the earth

Heat Budget

• earth's heat budget (incoming solar radiation heat budget)
                                  (earth/atmosphere heat budget)

Latitudinal heat balance (annual radiation budget)

Remote Sensing (click here for PowerPoint slides)