EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Equal areas of which type of surface will reflect the most insolation? The type of Earth surface that will most likely reflect the most insolation and this would also radiate more energy back in the same amount of time would be rough and dark colored equal surfaces.

Detailed explanation-2: -Light colors reflect more insolation than dark surfaces. As a result they heat up much more slowly. The texture of an object effects it is surface area.

Detailed explanation-3: -The best surfaces for reflecting light are very smooth, such as a glass mirror or polished metal, although almost all surfaces will reflect light to some degree. Reflection of Light When light waves are incident on a smooth, flat surface, they reflect away from the surface at the same angle as they arrive.

Detailed explanation-4: -At the equinoxes, solar insolation is at a maximum at the equator and is zero at the poles. At the summer solstice of the northern hemisphere, daily insolation reaches a maximum at the North Pole because of the 24-hour-long solar day.

Detailed explanation-5: -Snow covered surfaces have a high albedo; the albedo of soils ranges from high to low; vegetation covered surfaces and oceans have a low albedo. The Earth’s albedo varies mainly through varying cloudiness, snow, ice, leaf area and land cover changes.