Atmospheric absorption

Atmospheric absorption is the uptake of electromagnetic radiation by atmospheric molecules at wavelengths matching their energy transitions. It selectively alters radiation traveling through the atmosphere.

Electromagnetic spectrum: The full range of electromagnetic radiation, ordered by wavelength or frequency. Absorption occurs at particular wavelengths within this broader range.
Greenhouse gas: An atmospheric gas that absorbs and emits thermal infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases provide many of the atmosphere’s strongest infrared absorbers.
Radiative transfer: The description of how radiation is emitted, absorbed, and scattered as it travels through matter. It combines absorption with emission and scattering to calculate atmospheric radiation.
Greenhouse effect: The warming of Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere because gases absorb and emit thermal infrared radiation. Atmospheric absorption of outgoing infrared radiation is central to this warming process.
Molecular spectroscopy: The study of how molecules interact with electromagnetic radiation through transitions between energy states. It connects molecular energy levels to the wavelengths absorbed by atmospheric gases.
Water vapor: The gaseous form of water present in Earth’s atmosphere. Its numerous absorption bands make it the atmosphere’s most abundant variable greenhouse gas.
Radiative forcing: A change in Earth’s energy balance caused by an imposed influence on the climate system. Changes in greenhouse-gas absorption alter the energy entering and leaving the climate system.
Atmospheric opacity: A measure of how strongly a medium obstructs radiation through absorption or scattering. Strong absorption makes atmospheric layers opaque at particular wavelengths.
Rotational spectroscopy: Spectroscopy of transitions between quantized rotational energy states in molecules. Rotational transitions produce many absorption lines in the microwave and far-infrared.
Carbon dioxide: A trace atmospheric gas composed of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. Its infrared absorption bands strongly influence Earth’s outgoing thermal radiation.

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