Selective Absorption and Emission
q The atmosphere is not a perfect
blackbody, it absorbs some
wavelength of radiation and is
transparent to others (such as solar
radiation). è Greenhouse effect.
q Objective that selectively absorbs
radiation usually selectively emit
radiation at the same wavelength.
q For example, water vapor and CO2
are strong absorbers of infrared
radiation and poor absorbers of
visible solar radiation.