Atmospheres In Radiative And Thermal Equilibrium

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter is discussed the subject of radiation and thennal equilibrium in the earth’s atmosphere, with a specific emphasis on the cloud effect. Radiative equilibrium involves the balance between incoming solar radiation, which drives the general circulation of the atmosphere and the oceans, and outgoing thennal infrared (ir) radiation emitted from the earth-atmosphere system. Consideration of this equilibrium provides a fundamental step toward a physical understanding of the thennal structure of the atmosphere, as a first approximation. Radiative equilibrium has been extensively studied in the fields of stellar atmospheres, atmospheres of other planets, and the earth’s primitive atmosphere. Indeed, some of the earlier pioneering research efforts on the subject of radiative equilibrium can be found in the discussion of temperature for stars (Chandrasekhar, 1939), in the discussion of the vertical structure of planetary atmospheres (Chamberlain and Hunter, 1987), and in the discussion of the structure of the earth’s stratosphere (Goody and Yung, 1989).