A thought occurred to me this morning concerning the temperature measurements and output power calculations from the latest HotCat testing. What if the same general type of effect is working in the CAT test that is revealed by the Earth and the greenhouse gas process?
We assume that the Earth is pretty much in equilibrium where the power arriving from the sun is matching the power being radiated from our planet. The reason that we are not frozen at this time is because the radiation spectrum is modified by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which make our temperature a lot warmer than would be expected for a black body in open space. Perhaps something can be learned from this comparison and that is why I open it to discussion amount this group of knowlegible and diverse folks. One might initially ask if the calibration technique used during the testing of the HotCat would correct for the potential problems. Why would a calibration of the heat emitted within the IR region not hold to a reasonable degree at higher temperatures? Could the change in the shape of the spectrum result in a large error? Have mercy on the messenger. Dave
