Solar and Earth Radiation

The Sun

 the great thermonuclear reactor

 the original source of energy of the atmosphere
 weighs 330,000 times that of the Earth
 diameter about 1.39 x 106 km
 temperature is about 5,700 deg. Centigrade (10,000 oF)

Layers of the Sun:

 Photosphere – covers normally the visible disk, having a depth of about 5 x 10 -4 solar
radius, is the direct source of practically all observed solar radiation
 Chromospheres – relatively transparent gases in a more or less homogeneous layer
 Corona – pearly veil of extremely hot gas

The Earth

 Almost a sphere but with a slight flattening at the poles

 Mean radius of 6,371.2 km and a circumference of about 4.02 x 10 7 km with a
surface area of 5.10 x 108 sq. km.

Layers of the Earth:

 Lithosphere – solid mass

 Hydrosphere – liquid part
 Atmosphere – gaseous envelope

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Earth Formation

 born without an atmosphere

 formed by the slow accumulation of cool, solid particles of all sizes
 debris left behind by the sun as it contracted from its once great size
 gases and water that now form the air and oceans were chemically part of the
original mixture
 increase of the Earth’s temperature
 elements of the atmosphere and oceans
 no free oxygen existed in the air
 2-3B years ago first green plants evolved
 oxygen is a waste product of photosynthesis and accumulated to form the oxygen
supply in the atmosphere

Sun and Earth’s Relations: Rotation and Revolution

Rotation of the Earth:

 about its own axis in counter clockwise direction

 24 hours rotation time
 Accounts for the day (period of light) and night (period of darkness)
 Accounts the diurnal changes in weather (warming up during daytime and cooling off
at night, daily changes in wind velocity, cloudiness, land and sea breezes)
 True rotation time (sidereal day) is 23 hours 56 minutes 4.09 seconds

Revolution around the sun:

 365.242 days elliptical orbit time at a variable speed of 29.76 kps

 Accounts for the seasonal changes

Heat Balance of Earth’s Surface and Atmosphere

The earth’s surface radiates at a mean temperature of about 15oC. This emission has
been estimated to be about 2 ½ times the solar radiation absorbed. Net loss of heat is
prevented and a heat balance maintained because the atmosphere reflects back to the
surface about 85 percent of the emitted radiation. Were it not for this greenhouse effect,
the temperature of the earth would be about –40oC.

Solar and Earth Radiation

Solar radiation – the earth’s chief source of energy

– determines weather and climate
– shortwave in the visible range of 0.4 to 0.8  m
Earth radiation – longwave which is about 10  m
Solar Constant – the rate at which solar radiation reaches the upper limits of earth’s
atmosphere on a surface normal to the incident radiation and at earth’s mean
distance from the sun.

– 1319 to 1430 W/m2 or 1374 W/m2 average value

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Insolation

 solar radiation that reaches Earth and spread over a band of wavelengths (solar
spectrum)
 micrometers (µm) (10-6 m) or angstroms (A) (10-10 m)

Measurement of Radiation
Actinometer and radiometer – general names for instruments used to measure intensity
of radiant energy.

Types:

 Pyrheliometer – for measuring intensity of direct solar radiation

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 Pyranometer – for measuring hemispherical shortwave radiation (combined
intensity of direct solar radiation and diffuse sky radiation

Diffuse Sky Radiation – radiation reaching earth’s surface after being scattered
from direct solar beam by molecules and supensoids in
the atmosphere
 Pyrgeometer – for measuring hemispherical longwave radiation
– atmospheric radiation or inverted to measure terrestrial and
reflected atmospheric radiation

 Pyrradiometer or total – for measuring all-wave radiation flux

hemispherical radiometer
– used face up to measure hemispherical longwave radiation plus
global radiation or inverted to measure terrestrial and reflected
atmospheric radiation plus reflected solar radiation

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 Net Pyrradiometer or Net – for measuring net all-wave radiation flux
Radiometer

Motion of the Earth in Space

 rotation of the Earth on its axis accounts for day and night
 1 rotation in 24 hours
 in 1 year (365.25 days), Earth makes one revolution about the sun

Motion of the Earth in Space

 Earth’s orbital eccentricity is so slight

 Earth is closed to the sun (147 million km) [perihelion] on January 3
 Farthest from the sun (152 million km) [aphelion] on July 4

The Seasons

 spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter

Winter is the coldest season of the year

in polar and temperate zones (winter does not
occur in most of the tropical zone). It occurs
after autumn and before spring in each year.
Winter is caused by the axis of the Earth in
that hemisphere being oriented away from
the Sun.

Spring, also known as springtime is one of the

four temperate seasons, following winter and
preceding summer. When it is spring in
the Northern Hemisphere, it is autumn in
the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. At
the spring (or vernal) equinox, days and nights
are approximately twelve hours long, with day
length increasing and night length decreasing
as the season progresses.

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 Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons,
falling after spring and before autumn. At the summer
solstice, there is earliest sunrise and latest sunset, and
the days are longest and the nights are shortest,
with day length decreasing as the season progresses
after the solstice.

Autumn, also known as fall, is one of the

four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition
from summer to winter, in September (Northern
Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere), when
the duration of daylight becomes noticeably shorter
and the temperature cools considerably. One of its
main features in temperate climates is the shedding of
leaves from deciduous trees.

 attributed to the 23o27’ tilt of the Earth’s rotational axis to the plane defined by its
orbit

During May, June, and July, the Northern Hemisphere is exposed to more direct
sunlight because the hemisphere faces the Sun. The same is true of the Southern
Hemisphere in November, December, and January. It is Earth's axial tilt that causes
the Sun to be higher in the sky during the summer months, which increases the solar
flux. However, due to seasonal lag, June, July, and August are the warmest months
in the Northern Hemisphere while December, January, and February are the
warmest months in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Earth's Perihelion and Aphelion

The Earth is closest to the Sun, or at the perihelion, about 2 weeks after
the December Solstice, when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, the Earth
is farthest away from the Sun, at the aphelion point, 2 weeks after the June Solstice, when
the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying warm summer months.

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