Tell me whether or not these different types of radiation can be detected from the surface of Earth?

Question

(yes or no)

X-ray -

radio -

ultraviolet -

visible -

gamma -

infrared

Answer 1

Roughly put you are talking about electromagnetic waves. Visible light is a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. If I can put this another way If the electromagnetic spectrum were a strip of movie projector film, and that film stretched from LA to Anchorage, some where in about Seattle, WA. would be about a 4-5 inch strip that represented the visable part of the spectrum.  Radio waves have quite a range. From ULF through UHF. Micro wave, X ray etc are higher frequency, while ULF are used for transmission through liquids and solids, like seismic waves which are mechanical, and sonar. But ULF radio waves are used for radio communications with Subs. Sound waves are mechanical too and require a substance to transmit through, so sound does not travel in a vacuum, although it is a wave.

Answer 2

Yes to all, but some frequencies within the UV range are blocked to some degree by the ozone layer.

Answer 3

All of these can be detected from the surface of the Earth, but you may have some problems:

* Some infrared (IR) frequencies are absorbed by the atmosphere (i.e. by water vapor) - some parts of the IR spectrum can thus only be detected from space.

* Much of the far ultraviolet (UV) is absorbed by the ozone layer, but like IR, the UV is a large frequency range, and some frequencies do make it past the ozone layer...

* Visible radiation may be masked by light pollution from city lights, the moon or the sun during the day. This light is scattered by the atmosphere, giving a background noise that prevents faint signals from being detected.

* Some radio frequencies also suffer from 'pollution' by sources on Earth.

gamma and X rays have wavelengths too short for the atmosphere to interfere with, while radio wavelength are too large, so they go through it pretty much uninterrupted.