Posted by: Gobbopathe
« on: February 13, 2014, 02:03:47 PM »Ok very good to know, thanks
Surface Temperature in Kelvin = Base Temperature in Kelvin x Greenhouse Factor x Albedo
So temperature increases when any of those increase. (Base temperature is a constant.)The environmental characteristics (atmospheric composition, surface temperature, and hydrosphere) of bodies in Sol were entered manually. I assume to make things easy, all bodies were given an albedo of 1.
In other systems bodies with an atmosphere will often have an albedo =/= 1.
For bodies with an ice sheet, if that ice sheet melts their albedo will be increased. (No idea if it will decrease if the hydrosphere freezes. )
If the hydrosphere for a planet is Ice Sheet rather than Liquid Water (check the F9 view again), then at a certain point the ice will melt and form oceans. This will change the albedo because the ice that was reflecting heat back into space just melted and you will see a jump in temperature. The amount of albedo change is based on the extent of the ice sheet (F9 again) plus a random factor.
For bodies with an ice sheet, if that ice sheet melts their albedo will be increased. (No idea if it will decrease if the hydrosphere freezes.)If the hydrosphere refreezes the albedo will change. I can confirm that. I often play around in SM mode with terraforming to give me an idea of how long it would take and how suitable it will be and relowering the temp through removal of greenhouse gases does refreeze the hydrosphere and lowers the albedo again.