Outgoing longwave radiation

Outgoing longwave radiation is thermal infrared energy emitted by Earth’s surface and atmosphere that escapes to space. Its amount helps set Earth’s energy balance and climate.

Stefan–Boltzmann law: A physical law stating that a blackbody’s emitted power per unit area rises with the fourth power of its absolute temperature. It links the temperatures of emitting surfaces and atmospheric layers to their infrared emission.
Earth's energy budget: The accounting of energy Earth receives, reflects, stores, and emits. Outgoing longwave radiation is the planet’s principal route for returning absorbed energy to space.
Cloud radiative effect: The difference between Earth’s radiation budget with clouds and the budget estimated without clouds. Clouds change outgoing infrared radiation by absorbing and emitting thermal energy.
Planetary energy imbalance: The difference between the solar energy Earth absorbs and the energy it returns to space. A sustained shortfall in outgoing radiation means the climate system gains heat.
Atmospheric window: A range of infrared wavelengths that passes relatively readily through Earth’s atmosphere. Radiation in this spectral region can escape from near the surface with limited absorption.
Longwave radiation: Electromagnetic radiation at relatively long wavelengths, chiefly thermal infrared radiation emitted by cool objects. Outgoing radiation is the portion of Earth’s longwave emission that reaches space.
Atmospheric window radiation: Thermal infrared radiation emitted through wavelength bands where the atmosphere absorbs relatively weakly. These bands help satellite instruments distinguish surface and low-cloud emission from warmer atmospheric emission.
Planck feedback: The stabilizing climate response in which a warmer Earth emits more thermal radiation to space. Increasing emission with temperature is the basic radiative response opposing warming.
Greenhouse effect: The warming influence of atmospheric gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation. Absorption delays some surface radiation’s escape, shifting emission to colder atmospheric layers.
Shortwave radiation: Solar radiation at relatively short wavelengths, including visible and ultraviolet light. It is the incoming counterpart in Earth’s radiative balance, rather than thermal emission.

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Atmospheric absorptionRelated: Its spectral gaps and bands reveal how atmospheric gases absorb terrestrial heat.