Two insulated coolers with their tops off have been left in the middle of the Sahara Desert all day. The coolers measure 0.5 m´1 m on top, and they are 0.5 m high. One cooler is filled with dry sand, and the other is filled with water. The content of each cooler has reached an isothermal temperature of 300 K.
(a) Use a time-dependent surface energy balance model to estimate how long will it take the contents of each insulated cooler to reach a temperature of 290 K after the sun sets. (Make assumptions as needed, and use the figures of chapter 2.)
(b) Which terms in the surface heat balance are the most important for this case?
(c) What is the poorest assumption you made?
(d) Relate your results to the concept of "continentality."
(e) How would the problem be different if the coolers were located in Chicago instead of the Sahara Desert?