2.2: Radiation — Read — Invisible Network

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Radiation can be thought of in two ways: electromagnetic waves or as photons. For the purpose of atmospheric science, we will generally consider radiation as a wave rather than a photon particle. Electromagnetic radiation is a type of energy produced by electric and magnetic fields, taking a variety of names depending on the wavelength. For example, you’ve probably heard of radio waves and x-rays, whereby the primary difference is the wavelength of the waves in each. The next image shows the relationship between wavelength, frequency, and temperature. We will go into further detail later, but colder objects radiate at lower frequencies and longer wavelengths, and warmer objects radiate at higher frequency and shorter wavelengths. This relationship holds true across all scales, from atomic nuclei to planets, and across temperatures from near absolute zero to 10s of millions of Kelvins.

undefined — The electromagnetic energy spectrum, including penetration of Earth’s atmosphere (top), wavelength visual (red line), radiation type (name given), wavelength value (m), wavelength scale (image), frequency (Hz), and temperature of black body objects that emit at that wavelength of radiation (CC BY-SA 3.0).

2.2: Radiation is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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