10th Annual Boyceville Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament

Saturday, December 3, 2016Remote Sensing

Written Exam – Test Packet

Please write all of your answers and show all work in the answer packet. Any work written in this packet will not be graded.

Please do NOT write on this anywhere.

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Part A: Remote sensing instrumentation and physics. (30 points)

1. List and define the three major types of radiation scattering in remote sensing. Give a real world example of each type of remote sensing (9 points).

2. Define a passive sensor for remote sensing and give an example. (4 points)

3. Define an active sensor for remote sensing and give an example. (4 points)

4. Define the acronym LiDAR (2 points)

5. What is the wavelength of peak energy emission at the bottom of a cloud of temperature -10.°C? (4 points)

6. Assume a dark soil sample of emissivity equal to one and a surface temperature of 30.°C. What is the total power output from the soil per square meter? (5 points)

7. The human eye, as a remote sensor, responds to what spectral range? (2 points)a) 4 mm – 4 m b) 10 – 40 nmc) 400 – 700 nm d) 0.4 nm – 0.7 nme) 4 pm – 7 pm

Part B: Intepretation of remote sensing images and data sets. (30 points).

Use the CERES image below to answer questions 8-9.

8. What is being represented in this image? Relate the units to your answer. (3 points)

9. Why are there higher values located near the center of the image and lower values located near the polar regions? (3 points)

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Use the following image to answer questions 10-12.

10. What type of image is this? (3 points)

11. Specifically, what is being measured in this image? (3 points)

12. Give one reason why would LANDSAT not be an appropriate satellite to use to collect this data. (3 points)

Use the following OCO-2 image to answer questions 13-15.

13. Give at least one reason the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is at a local minimum near the center of the image (northern Africa). (3 points)

14. Give at least one reason the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is at a local maximum in northern South America. (3 points)

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15. Give at least one reason the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is at a local maximum just off the coast of southeast Asia. (3 points).

Use the following AMSR-E image to answer questions 16-17.

16. What meteorological condition is demonstrated in the AMSR-E image from December 2009? (3 points)

17. Name at least one economic impact of the meteorological condition displayed above in December 2009 on the continental US west coast. (3 points)

Part C: Climate processes and climate change. (30 points - 2 pts each)

18. The amount of heat radiated by a surface is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature. This means:

a) as earth’s temperature rises, a decreasing proportion of heat is radiated into spaceb) as earth’s temperature rises, an equivalent amount of heat is radiated into spacec) as earth’s temperature rises, an increasing proportion of heat is radiated into spaced) None of the above

19. The reflectivity of a surface is called its _____.a) Albedo b) Reflectivityc) Refractivity d) Diffractivitye) None of the above

20. The reflectivity of a surface ranges between zero and _____.a) 0.5 b) 1c) 10 d) 100

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e) 1000

21. The radiant energy flow in a given unit volume is called thea) Brightness b) Radiant Flux Densityc) Intensity d) Volumetric Exitance

22. All of the planet’s weather takes place in thea) Troposphere b) Mesospherec) Thermosphere d) Stratospheree) Ionosphere

23. What is the difference between “whiskbroom” and “pushbroom” scanning?a) across-track vs. along track b) analog vs. digitalc) raster vs vector d) passive vs. active

24. Clouds directly affect the Earth’s energy balance bya) reflecting incoming sunlight back into spaceb) absorbing and emitting reflected light back into spacec) Both (a) and (b)d) clouds do not affect the Earth's energy balance in any way

25. Inclination is the angle of the orbit of a satellite in relation toa) Earth’s Equator b) Earth’s Axisc) The Moon’s Orbit d) The Earth’s Orbit Around the Sun

26. Weather satellites orbit the Earth in arounda) 90 minutes b) 3 hours c) 6 hours d) 12 hourse) 24 hours

27. Which of the following greenhouse gases are, on average, highest in concentration?a) Ozone b) Water Vaporc) Methane d) Carbon Dioxidee) None of the above

28. Of the following greenhouse gases, which of the following has resulted in the greatest increase in radiative forcing since the 18th century?

a) Nitrous Oxide b) Ozonec) Methane d) Carbon Dioxide

29. Of the following greenhouse gases, which has seen the greatest increase in abundance, both in absolute and percentage terms, since the 18th century?

a) Nitrous Oxide b) Ozonec) Methane d) Carbon Dioxide

30. The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has been recently measured to be most nearly

a) 40 ppm b) 400 ppmc) 4000 ppm d) 40 ppbd) 400 ppb

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31. Which of the following regions of the world results in the greatest emissions of carbon dioxide in the 20th century?a) North America b) Europec) USSR/Russia d) Chinae) Eastern Europe

32. Which of the following regions of the world results in the greatest emissions of carbon dioxide in the 21st century?a) North America b) Europec) USSR/Russia d) Chinae) Eastern Europe

Part D: Using, applying, and interpreting the output of small-scale models of planetary energy balance (30 points)

The simplest form of a climate model is a zero-dimensional climate model, which is a very simple model of radiative equilibrium:

(1−a )Sπ r2=4 π r2 εσ T 4

a = Albedo (0.3)S = Solar Constant (1367 W/m2)r = Radius of Earth (6.371 x 106 m)ε = Effective Emissivity of Earth (0.612)σ = Stefan-Boltzmann Constant (5.67 x 10-8 J K-4 M-2 s-1)

33. Using the numbers above, calculate the equilibrium temperature of the Earth (apparent effective average Earth temperature in Kelvin). (8 points)

34. Assume that the albedo of the Earth from 0.3 to 0.4. Calculate the new equilibrium temperature of the Earth (apparent effective average Earth temperature in Kelvin). (8 points)

35. How could global warming result in an increase in the albedo of the Earth? (6 points)

36. Now assume that the albedo is still 0.4, but the effective emissivity of the Earth decreases to 0.60. Calculate the new equilibrium temperature of the Earth (apparent effective average Earth temperature in Kelvin). (8 points).

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