Why the temperature of land has been greater than the temperature of any hill top? Where as hill top is near to the sun rather than the land.
2007-06-25 02:13:12 · 7 answers · asked by faisal4amin 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Our atmosphere is transparent to solar radiation.That means the air is not heated directly by the Sun.The sun heats the earth first and the atmosphere is heated from the bottom and the upper portion of the atmosphere is heated by conduction from the lower levels.That is why the temperatue drops as you go up.The radiation that comes from the sun is a short wave radiation which is not absorbed by the atmosphere whereas the reflected sun's radiation from the earth is a long wave radiation and it is absorbed by the atmosphere.Hence the atmosphere is heated from below and that is the reason for the temperature dropping as you go up.That is why the hill top is cooler than the land.
2007-06-25 03:02:35 · answer #1 · answered by Arasan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The important thing to remember is that the sun is approximately 150 million kilometres away. The fact that you're 1km or so nearer at the top of the hill doesn't make a great deal of difference in terms of the distance from the sun. However, what is different is that the density of the atmosphere is lower at the top of the hill than at the bottom, due to gravity, and this is enough to cause a noticeable temperature difference - approximately 7C every 1km.
2007-06-25 02:34:20 · answer #2 · answered by Graham I 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I assume you're comparing temps in valleys to those on hills. I would think hills would get more wind.
Now, out west, in the Rockies, they get very cool temps because of the high altitudes. I noticed on the weather map that there is still snow on the ground in parts of Colorado--right now, in the summertime. Less atmosphere means less greenhouse effect, which means cooler weather up there.
The greenhouse effect is good. It permits life to exist.
2007-06-25 03:40:44 · answer #3 · answered by SallyJM 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The air is less dense the higher in the altitude you go. Therefore the air is not able to hold heat as well. On average you lose 4 degrees for every 1 thousand feet you go in altitude. Thats why we see snowcapped mountains even when valleys are warm and dry.
2007-06-25 03:17:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The higher you go up, the air expands and loses water molecules and cant hold on to them, so there is less heat im the air. So the top will be colder.
2007-06-25 02:21:59 · answer #5 · answered by cookiemonster 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
thinner atmosphere smaller area
2007-06-25 02:17:50 · answer #6 · answered by ben_m_g 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oops...
2007-06-25 02:20:20 · answer #7 · answered by Ali 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋