Atmospheric Model for Android

11 things about Atmospheric Model

1. The app then uses 5 parameters for the chosen “base” planet: the Albedo (alpha), distance from the sun (r), extinction coefficients of two atmospheric layers (epsilon1, 2), and the solar constant S0 to calculate temperatures and radiative flux densities.

2. Start with a base planet, but realize this simple 2 layer model cannot accurately predict the surface temperatures of the gas giants or Venus.

3. For a single atmospheric layer Earth, changing the base value of epsilon = 0.78 to epsilon = 0.83 (d-epsilon = 0.05) gives an 3K T rise; roughly the equivalent of doubling [CO2] (and a forcing of 3.71 W/m2).

4. The base parameter values for Earth nicely calculate Ts, Te, and T1 (upper troposphere) values, and the model correctly predicts Te’s for all the planets.

5. The app uses a simple radiative transfer model for a planet with two leaky* atmospheric layers.

6. It begins by calculating Te, the emission temperature of the planet by using the Solar constant and planetary Albedo.

7. Segue to inspect the flux densities, and/or modify the base parameters to see changes.

8. Calculate the “natural” 33K greenhouse effect (compare Earth with and without an atmosphere), or change the extinction coefficients to see the effect of adding or reducing absorbing gasses.

9. One can modify these 5 adjustable parameters from their base values, and update the result.

10. Pressing the Back button allows you to refresh your parameter or base planet choices.

11. Click Update to calculate the temperatures and flux densities.