4.1 Air Temperature

At any given place, the amount of incoming solar radiation, or _________ , available depends on the intensity and duration of solar radiation

• incidence

• insolation

• solar quotient

• axial radiation

Based on the tilt of the Earth and the sunrise line depicted in the picture, what season is beginning in New York City?

• Spring (March 21)

• Summer (June 21)

• Autumn (September 23)

• Winter (December 22)

The events labeled 1 and 3 are called

• solstices

• equinoxes

• eclipses

• celestials

Answer explanation

Think "equinox" for "equal" amount of day/nigh

Earth is tilted at _____________ degrees.

• 23.5

• 90

• 0

• 25.3

If it is November, then the sun will soon be directly overhead at noon at which important line?

• The Tropic of Cancer

• The Tropic of Capricorn

• The Equator

• 11 degrees N latitude

Which of these would have the highest albedo?

• fresh clean snow

• old clean snow

• snow contaminated with dust

• a rocky coastline

On a clear, cloudless night the reradiation process causes:

• the lapse rate to decrease

• the earth to store more energy

• albedo to continually increase

• temperatures to continually decrease

Why does water on the Earth’s surface store solar energy so effectively?

• Water is transparent, so solar rays can penetrate a great distance below its surface.

• Water is opaque, so all of the energy received from the sun is concentrated at its surface.

• Water changes solar radiation into an electrical charge like a battery.

• Water transforms solar radiation into kinetic wave energy.

Which of the following best describes how air in the troposphere is heated?

• Air in the thermosphere circulates and disperses energy through the process of convection.

• Air is heated by molecules of water that are excited by microwave energy.

• Air is heated by light as it makes its way down through the troposphere.

• Air is heated by the process of reradiation from the Earth.

Temperatures are _________ by the presence of large bodies of water near land areas.

• lowered

• raised

• moderated

• made more extreme