Robert Holmes

Faculty of Science and Technology

Calculating surface temperatures on planetary bodies with atmospheres >10kPa

It has always been a struggle to pin down mathematically how to calculate the earth’s average surface temperature, because it has a complicating factor; a thick atmosphere. Usually scientists start with the Stefan Boltzmann (S-B) black body law, then discussions arise about the size or relevance of additional factors such as albedo, total solar irradiance (TSI), clouds, the greenhouse effect and adiabatic auto-compression. Here is presented a simpler method of calculating an average surface temperature on planetary bodies which possess an atmospheric pressure of over 10kPa, which requires knowledge of only three variable parameters; surface atmospheric pressure, surface atmospheric density and the mean molecular weight of the tropospheric atmosphere.

Robert Holmes is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend and RTP Fee-Offset Scholarship through Federation University Australia.