AOSC 200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Electrical Resistance And Conductance, Wind Chill, Thermistor
5 Mar 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Daily warming and cooling air near the surface. Sun warms the ground, ground warms the air it is in contact with through conduction (only within a few centimeters of the ground because air is a bad conductor) Convection begins near the surface and thermals help to redistribute heat. Calm days it is hotter near ground, but wind helps distribute temperature. The ground and the air cool by radiating infrared energy radiation cooling. Ground is a better radiator than air, thus cools more quickly. The warmed upper air transfers some heat downwards. Measured increase in air temperature just above the ground is known as a radiation inversion because it forms mainly through radiational cooling of the surface. More likely with clear sky and dry air. During the day the earth"s surface and air above will continue to warm as long as incoming energy (mainly sunlight) exceeds outgoing energy from the surface.
