Consider a location in the tropics where the average flux of solar radiation at the top of the  atmosphere is 400 W/m2 . A cloud scatters 50 % of the incident solar radiation back to space, and  it has an infrared absorptivity of 1.0.  What is the lowest cloud top height for a net positive heating effect on climate? Assume the  ground temperature is 30o C and the lapse rate is 6o C per km throughout the troposphere.

Applications and Investigations in Earth Science (9th Edition)
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Author:Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K. Lutgens, Dennis G. Tasa
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Consider a location in the tropics where the average flux of solar radiation at the top of the 
atmosphere is 400 W/m2
. A cloud scatters 50 % of the incident solar radiation back to space, and 
it has an infrared absorptivity of 1.0. 

What is the lowest cloud top height for a net positive heating effect on climate? Assume the 
ground temperature is 30o C and the lapse rate is 6o C per km throughout the troposphere.

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