Identify 5 factors which control the global distribution of temperature?

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1. Skookum says

   I think you mean global distribution of heat, correct?
   ocean currents, the jet stream, the angle of the sun, weather phenomena like hurricanes

   May 2, 2010, 11:37 am
2. Paladin says

   Different latitudes generated a strongly peaked plot of the area of the Earth’s surface between 1?C isotherms of mean annual temperature as a function of latitude, and the greater influence of the oceans on their climatic regions. Regional richness patterns of the cool temperate rainforests.
   Atmospheric sounding for information about temperature and abundance of gases is based on the fact that thermal radiation received by a radiometer originates at wavelength-dependent depths in the atmosphere. This is caused by a non-uniform absorption spectrum, particularly by molecular absorption lines. (Note that in an atmosphere in thermal and radiative equilibrium, emission equals absorption. If that were not the case, the atmosphere would either cool down or heat up until balance is reached.) At wavelengths near the peak of such a line, absorption may be so strong that most of the underlying atmosphere is opaque, and only the top of the atmosphere is seen.” Conversely, at wavelengths away from the lines, often called a window” region, the atmosphere may be nearly transparent, and the surface or the bottom of the atmosphere is seen. Through spectral sampling, i.e., by measuring narrow spectral bands or channels,” it is then possible to probe into different depths of the atmosphere.
   It is possible to separate the effects of different atmospheric gases by using channels in different spectral regions where one gas has absorption features while the others do not. To measure temperature profiles, AIRS uses a large number of CO2 absorption lines in the infrared spectral region, while AMSU-A uses a few O2 absorption lines at microwave wavelengths. To measure water vapor profiles, AIRS uses many H2O absorption lines throughout its spectral range, and HSB uses a single H2O absorption line in the microwave region. Since the vertical distribution of CO2 and O2 are both stable and well known, the CO2 and O2 channels allow the temperature distribution to be determined. With that known, the H2O channels allow the vertical distribution of water vapor density to be determined.
   The infrared spectral range covered by AIRS also features absorption lines of other molecular species, such as O3 and CH4. This makes it possible to deduce ozone and methane profiles. Finally, while liquid water makes most clouds completely opaque in the infrared region, in the microwave region they are partially transparent. The microwave spectral absorption features of liquid water therefore make it possible to determine the vertical distribution of liquid water in clouds from AMSU-A and HSB measurements. This information is used to make the derived AIRS temperature and water vapor profiles more accurate.

   May 2, 2010, 12:30 pm