REGENTS EARTH SCIENCE Name

Intensity of Insolation & Energy Absorption

Date Period
Aim: How do intensity of insolation and type of surface affect energy absorption?

Intensity of Insolation
Insolation (INcoming SOLar radiATION) is the portion of the sun’s output of electromagnetic radiation
that is received by Earth at the outermost part of our atmosphere. The intensity of insolation is the relative
strength of the sun’s radiation that reaches a specific area of Earth in a specific amount of time. The intensity
of insolation depends on the angle of insolation. When the angle is high, the intensity of insolation is strong.
The angle of insolation is the angle at which the sun’s rays strike the earth’s surface. The vertical ray is
sunlight that strikes Earth’s surface at an angle of 90°. It is sometimes called the direct ray of sunlight. The
vertical ray strikes Earth at a position where the sun is directly overhead or that is at the zenith. This vertical
ray of sunlight always hits Earth within the tropics. The latitude at which the vertical ray of sunlight strikes Earth
determines the beginning of each season.

Angles of Insolation
The more hours of daylight are one reason why summer is warmer than winter. But there's another
reason that's even more important: the angle of the noon sun. The noon sun is much higher in June than in
December. This means that the sun's rays strike the ground more directly in June. In December, on the other
hand, the same amount of energy is diluted over a larger area of ground:

The intensity of sunlight striking the ground depends on the sun's angle in the sky. When the sun is at a lower angle, the
same amount of energy is spread over a larger area of ground, so the ground is heated less. The angles shown here are
for the noon sun at latitude 41° north.

There is a common misconception that summer is warmer than winter because the sun is closer to us
in the summer. Actually the sun's distance hardly changes at all and in fact, the sun happens to be closest to
us in January. Again, the seasonal changes in climate are caused by the varying angle of the sun's rays,
together with the varying amount of time that the sun is above our horizon.

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Energy Absorption
The speed, and degree to which a surface will heat up is determined by how much insolation it absorbs.
The amount of insolation a surface absorbs is determined by two important characteristics:

Color
Dark surfaces absorb more
insolation than light surfaces. As a result
they heat up faster. This should be
another familiar sensation to anyone who
has made the bad decision to wear a
black tee shirt on a hot summer day.

Light colors reflect more insolation

than dark surfaces. As a result they heat
up much more slowly.

Texture
The texture of an object effects it
is surface area. Rough surfaces with lots
of bumps and folds have much more
surface area than smooth objects.

Because they have more surface

area rough surfaces absorb more
insolation than smooth surfaces, causing
them to heat up faster. Smooth surface Rough surface

Questions: Please answer the following questions using complete sentences.

1) What is intensity of insolation?

2) How does intensity of insolation change with angle of insolation?

3) What is the relationship between angle of insolation and intensity of insolation?

4) Which type of surface would absorb the amount of insolation the greatest?

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