Why is the sunrise less red than sunset?

[Jdizz]

Is this related to light losing energy in a warm/cold atmosphere?

[StringJunky]

There are more large particles like smog and clouds than in morning air.

 

Mie scattering by larger particles

 

The intense reds and peach colors in brilliant sunrises come from Mie scattering by atmospheric dust and aerosols, like the water droplets that make up clouds. We only see these intense reds and peach colors at sunrise and sunset, because it takes the long pathlengths of sunrise and sunset through a lot of air for Rayleigh scattering to deplete the violets and blues from the direct rays. The remaining reddened sunlight can then be scattered by cloud droplets and other relatively large particles to light up the horizon red and orange <snip>

 

Sunrise vs. Sunset colors

 

Sunset colors are sometimes more brilliant than sunrise colors because evening air typically contains more large particles, such as clouds and smog, than morning air. These particles glow orange and red due to Mie scattering during sunsets and sunrises because they are illuminated with the longer wavelengths that remain after Rayleigh scattering.[6][10][9][13]

If the concentration of large particles is too high (such as during heavy smog), the color intensity and contrast is diminished and the lighting becomes more homogenous. When very few particles are present, the reddish light is more concentrated around the Sun and is not spread across and away from the horizon.[11]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise

[STeve555]

The earth is colder at dawn as it is with dusk on average. And high pressure regions, when they move away, will have a vacuum effect on low pressure regions, changing the reflective atmosphere, like smog and shit. Basically what Stringjunky said.

 

But Sunrise is not per se less red than sunset.

 

Sunrise can be accompanied by mist, where sunset can't.

 

 

 

red sky in the night is a sailor denight, red sky in the morning is a sailors warning

Edited October 25, 2012 by STeve555