Lab 1: Solar Radiation & Seasons
Student Name:
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Section 2
Q1: What controls how much radiation the Sun emits? Sunspots are not the primary control.
Q2: What type of radiation does the Sun primarily emit?
Q3: For the Earth as a whole, what percentage of the incoming solar radiation is reflected by clouds
and other parts of the atmosphere? You need to examine the Energy Balance figure.
Q4: For the Earth as a whole, what percentage of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the
atmosphere? You need to examine the Energy Balance figure.
Q5: To what celestial body is the tilt axis always pointed throughout the year?
Q6: What hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun on June 21?
Q7: What hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun on December 21?
Q8: At what Sun altitude is the intensity of solar radiation maximized?
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Section 3
Q9: What are the approximate latitudes (i.e., to the first decimal place) of the following places? Zoom
in on each circle to get the most accurate latitude.
a. Arctic Circle, Canada:
b. Richardson, NB, Canada:
c. Tropic of Cancer, Atlantic Ocean:
d. Equator, Brazil:
e. Tropic of Capricorn, Argentina:
f. Malspina, Argentina:
g. Antarctic Circle, Antarctica:
Q10: How do you think the intensity of sunlight and daylight hours will vary among the stations on 20
March 2014 and 22 September 2014?
Q11: How do you think the intensity of sunlight and daylight hours will vary among the stations on 21
June 2014?
Q12: How do you think the intensity of sunlight and daylight hours will vary among the stations on 21
December 2014?
Q13: Where was the noon altitude of the Sun highest and lowest on the equinoxes?
Q14: Approximately how many hours of daylight did each of the locations receive on the two
equinoxes?
Q15: Where was the axis of Earth’s tilted towards on the equinoxes? You answered this in Question 5.
Q16: How would you define an equinox?
Q17: Where was the noon altitude of the Sun highest and lowest on June 21?
Q18: Where was the noon altitude of the Sun highest and lowest on December 21?
Q19: What locations had the most and fewest daylight hours on June 21?
Q20: What locations had the most and fewest daylight hours on December 21?
Q21: Where was the axis of Earth’s tilted towards on the solstices? You answered this in Questions 5
and 15.
Q22: How would you define a solstice?
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Section 4
Q23: What are the latitudes and longitudes of Miami, FL USA and Cleveland, OH USA?
a. Miami:
b. Cleveland:
Q24: Which location do you expect to have more solar radiation during the equinoxes and why?
Q25: Which location do you expect to have more solar radiation on the June Solstice and why?
Q26: Which location do you expect to have more solar radiation on the December Solstice and why?
Q27: Why is the surface radiation for each month between 35% to 53% of the radiation at the top of
the atmosphere?
Q28: Why is there more solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere at Cleveland’s latitude than
Miami’s latitude in June and July?
Q29: Based on the information above, what aspect of solar radiation causes Cleveland to have more
solar radiation than Miami in June and July?
Q30: Related to the previous question, what atmospheric factor causes Miami’s surface to receive less
solar radiation than Cleveland’s surface in June and July?
Q31: What was the atmospheric factor that caused Miami’s surface to receive less radiation than
Cleveland’s surface in June and July?
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Section 5
Q32: How did the locations of the warmest areas shift from January to July?
Q33: What is the warmest land mass in January and why?
Q34: Why does Canada experience much larger differences in temperature from January to July than
does Brazil?
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Section 6
Write responses of one to two sentences for each of the following big questions of the lab.
Q35: What is the reason for the seasons?
Q36: How does Earth’s atmosphere affect solar radiation?
Q37: What is the general relationship between latitude, solar radiation, and surface temperature?