ABSTRACTS 



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METEOROLOGY. — The earth's radiation zones. W. J. Humphreys. 

 Bulletin of the Mount Weather Observatory, 4: 129-135. 1911. 



If, as it is now generally believed, the temperature of the atmosphere 

 above the level of vertical convection is determined by radiation from 

 lower levels, then it follows that the greater this radiation the greater 

 also will be the resulting temperature of the upper atmosphere. 



Also, since water vapor has a high coefficient of absorption for long 

 wave lengths, the lower atmosphere of any place may, without materially 

 affecting the temperature of the corresponding isothermal region, be 

 replaced by an equivalently radiating black surface. From this it can 

 be shown that the absolute temperatures of these equivalently radiating 

 black surfaces at different parts of the world would be to each other 

 approximately as the absolute temperatures of the isothermal region in 

 the corresponding places. 



Hence, to the same degree of approximation, the intensity of the out- 

 going radiation at one place is to that at another as the fourth powers of 

 the corresponding absolute temperatures of the isothermal region. 



The curious conclusion this leads to is, that the intensity of the earth's 

 outgoing radiation is muclrgreater in middle latitudes, than it is in equa- 

 torial regions, as shown in the accompanying table. 



Earth Radiation (Guam Calories per Square Centimeter per Minute) 



at Different Latitudes 



99 



W. J. H. 



