Explain the EMR with respect to the earth’s surface.
Answers
Electromagnetic radiation that passes through the earth's atmosphere without being absorbed or scattered reaches the earth's surface to interact in different ways with different materials constituting the surface.
There are three ways in which the total incident energy will interact with earth's surface materials. These are
Absorption
Transmission, and
Reflection
Absorption (A) occurs when radiation (energy) is absorbed into the target while transmission (T) occurs when radiation passes through a target. Reflection (R) occurs when radiation "bounces" off the target and is redirected.
How much of the energy is absorbed, transmitted or reflected by a material will depend upon:
• Wavelength of the energy
• Material constituting the surface, and
• Condition of the feature.