I love this time of year! We are just about to mark the summer solstice, the longest day of the year (here in the north!), and the long, slow glide back into my second favorite Vermont season, winter! Between now and then, however, things will heat up. How can that be?
If this is the time we have the most exposure to the sun, shouldn't this also be the warmest part of the year? Thanks to the phenomenon of thermal capacitance, we can expect the weather toward the end of July and into early August to be warmer than June. The average high temperature in Burlington for June 21 is 78F while for July 30 it is 81F.
Put simply, the planet acts like a "thermal flywheel," taking more energy to be warmed up compared to the amount of energy being supplied to it by the sun. Capacitance is not a time-based function by itself, but given that the heat transfer from the sun is always by radiation, capacitance also affects the time it takes to heat things up and the time taken for them to cool off. In September and October we enjoy to thermal savings account we are building up in June and July!
One problem with this time of year is that I can't seem to sleep past about 5am when the birds start singing! On the other end of the day I'm reluctant to go to bed while there is still any light outside. I guess I'll delay some sleeping until those long, cold January nights! Sleep capacitance. Speaking of which, who can guess what the image attached to this post is?
I hope you enjoy the longest (or shortest for our friends "down under") day of the year and find some thermally interesting things to think about and/or to look at with your infrared cameras.
Thermally Yours,
John
ASNT NDT Level III #48166
The Snell Group
www.thesnellgroup.com
www.thermalsolutions.org
800-636-9820