Blackbody Radiation, Boltzmann Statistics, Temperature, and Thermodynamic Equilibrium

Blackbody radiation, temperature, and thermodynamic equilibrium give a tightly coupled description of systems (atmospheres, volumes, surfaces) that obey Boltzmann statistics. They provide descriptions of systems when Boltzmann statistics apply, either approximately or nearly exactly. These apply most of the time in the Earth’s stratosphere and troposphere, and in other planetary atmospheres as long as the density is sufficient that collisions among atmospheric molecules, rather than photochemical and photophysical properties, determine the energy populations of the ensemble of molecules. Thermodynamic equilibrium and the approximation of local thermodynamic equilibrium are introduced. Boltzmann statistics, blackbody radiation, and Planck’s law are described. The chapter introduces the Rayleigh-Jeans limit, description of noise sources as temperatures, Kirchoff’s law, the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, and Wien’s law.