Instructions: For each question, click on the radio button beside your answer. When you have completed the entire quiz, click the “Submit my answers” button at the bottom of the page to receive your results.

Question 1:

Which of the following correctly lists the wavelengths in order from longest to shortest?
a) Ultraviolet, x-rays, infrared, visible
b) Infrared, visible, x-rays, ultraviolet
c) X-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared
d) X-rays, visible, ultraviolet, infrared

Question 2:

Planck’s curve shows the relationship between which two variables?
a) Radiation emission and wavelength
b) Temperature and wavelength
c) Radiation emission and temperature
d) Radiation emission and absorptivity

Question 3:

Which radiation law states that the emissivity of a substance at a given wavelength is equal to the absorptivity of that substance at the same wavelength?
a) Stefan–Boltzmann law
b) Wien’s law
c) Planck’s law
d) Kirchhoff’s law

Question 4:

Of the following surfaces, which has the lowest albedo?
a) Snow
b) Sea ice
c) Asphalt
d) Dry soil

Question 5:

Which of the following statements about the atmospheric window is true?
a) It prevents infrared radiation from escaping into space.
b) It is transparent to infrared radiation.
c) It ranges from wavelengths of 5 µm to 7µm.
d) It absorbs shortwave radiation.

Question 6:

Why does the amount of solar radiation received by a surface decrease as the sun angle decreases?
a) There is decreased depletion of the solar beam by atmospheric constituents.
b) The solar beam spreads over an increasing surface area.
c) The zenith angle decreases.
d) The path length of the sun decreases.

Question 7:

When is Earth closest to the sun?
a) At the June solstice
b) At perihelion
c) At the December solstice
d) At aphelion

Question 8:

At 45° S latitude, the maximum amount of shortwave radiation reaching the top of Earth’s atmosphere will occur on approximately which date?
a) 21 June
b) 21 December
c) 21 March
d) 21 September

Question 9:

Which statement is false?
a) At the March equinox, the subsolar point is 90°.
b) At the June solstice, the subsolar point is 23.5° N.
c) At the September equinox, the subsolar point is 0°.
d) At the December solstice, the subsolar point is 23.5° S.

Question 10:

What determines the amount of radiation that a surface will absorb?
a) Shadiness
b) Continentiality
c) Slope angle
d) Albedo

Question 11:

The Stefan–Boltzmann law states that as temperature increases, the rate of emission of radiation decreases.
a) True
b) False

Question 12:

Wien’s law states that as temperature increases, the wavelength of maximum emission, along with all the emitted wavelengths, get shorter.
a) True
b) False

Question 13:

The sun emits longwave radiation and Earth emits shortwave radiation.
a) True
b) False

Question 14:

Mie scattering is non-selective.
a) True
b) False

Question 15:

The atmosphere is more effective at absorbing shortwave radiation than it is at absorbing longwave radiation.
a) True
b) False

Higher Education

Weather and Climate: Chapter 5