Department of Environmental Technology

University of Colombo

• Solar Radiation • Saturation Vapour Pressure

• Albedo • Dew Point
• Radiation • Humidity
• Vapour Pressure • Relative Humidity

Hydrology – ET 1202

2022t01379

Colombo

1
SOLAR RADIATION
Solar radiation, often called the solar resource or just sunlight, is a general term for
the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun. Solar radiation can be captured
and turned into useful forms of energy, such as heat and electricity, using a variety
of technologies. The amount of solar radiation that reaches any one spot on the
Earth's surface varies according to geographic location, time of day, season, local
landscape, local weather. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere, some of it is
absorbed, scattered and reflected by air molecular, water vapor, clouds, dust,
pollutants, forest fires and volcanoes. These facts can affect to rediuse direct solar
radiation. Radiation data for solar electric system are often represented as
kilowatt-hours per square meter (kWh/m2). Direct estimates of solar energy may
also be expressed as watts per square meter (W/m2).

There are three types of solar

radiation,

1. Direct solar radiation

2. Diffuse solar radiation
3. Reflected solar radiation

https://www.google.com/search?q=solar+radiation&sca_esv=574450425&tbm=isch&sxsrf=AM9HkKn0A
srvlAgQ0q65ZCGkCbudOBZPYw:1697636271711&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS3Lr32_-
BAxUeSGwGHVzOBrwQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1463&bih=698&dpr=1.75#imgrc=KLw-F2oOqoHXJM 2
Albedo
Albedo is the amount of sunlight reflected by a surface. This is usually express as
percentage a decimal value. Albedo value expressed as a value between 0 and
1,with 0 indicate a perfect absorbing surface and 1 indicate a perfect reflecting
surface. White surface like snow has a high albedo. Dark surface has low albedo.
Albedo is important to climate and temperature regulation, sea level rise,
astronomy and climate change mitigation. We can divide albedo into two types.
There are terrestrial albedo and astronomical albedo.

Terrestrial albedo - The terrestrial albedo of earth around 0.31 which is about
two-thirds of the solar radiation reaching the earth

Astronomical albedo - Astronomical albedo is the measure of the reflectivity of

planets, asteroids and other celestial bodies the albedo is an indicator of the
surface and atmospheric characteristics of a celestial body

https://www.google.com/search?q=albedo%20effect%20diagram&tbm=isch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBwQ
tI8BKABqFwoTCJj87tHg_4EDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAX&biw=1447&bih=698#imgrc=_HWV4jyCLXR5YM

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RADIATION
Radiation is energy that moves from one place to another in a form that can be
described as electromagnetic waves or particles. There are several types of
radiation that we can find,

• Electronic radiation
• Ionizing radiation,
o X-rays
o Gamma rays
o Nuclear radiation
• Non-Ionizing radiation
o Ultraviolet radiation

Uses of radiation
• Medical imaging
• Cancer treatment
• Nuclear energy
• Food preservation

https://www.google.com/search?q=radiation&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjZocXq4P-BAxVFz6ACHXlRBwIQ2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=radiation&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIKCAAQigUQsQMQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIFC
AAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEOgQIIxAnOgYIABAHEB46BggAEAUQHjoHCCMQ6gIQJzoICAAQgAQQsQNQvAZYky
9glDpoAXAAeASAAcoCiAGiH5IBBjItMTEuNJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nsAEKwAEB&sclient=img&ei=0uQvZdnwL8Weg8
UP-aKdEA&bih=698&biw=1447&hl=en#imgrc=iC6yX_JjHyLWMM

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VAPOUR PRESSURE
Vapor pressure is the pressure of a vapor in thermodynamic equilibrium with its
condensed phases in a closed container. All liquids and solids have a tendency to
evaporate or sublime into a gaseous form and all gases have a tendency to
condense back to their liquid or solid form. Vapor pressures are dependent only on
temperature.

Uses of Vapour Pressure,

• Evaporation and Boiling

• Climate and Meteorology
• Pharmaceuticals and Medicine

https://www.google.com/search?q=+vapour+pressure&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiOxNPI4_-BAxUK5jgGHegzDDMQ2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=+vapour+pressure&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzINCAAQigUQsQMQgwEQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQz
IHCAAQigUQQzIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDoECCMQJzoGCAAQBxAeOgcI
ABAYEIAEOggIABAFEAcQHlC9BlisDGCvEmgAcAB4AYABgAKIAaYKkgEFMC4xLjWYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABA
Q&sclient=img&ei=secvZc6nAYrM4-EP6OewmAM&bih=698&biw=1447&hl=en#imgrc=4aMcpRyrw60jAM

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SATURATION VAPOUR PRESSURE
The vapor pressure of a system, at a given temperature, for which the vapor of a
substance is in equilibrium with a plane surface of that substance's pure liquid or
solid phase; that is, the vapor pressure of a system that has attained saturation.
We use saturation vapour pressure in weather and meteorology, climate studies,
agriculture and humidity control.

DEW POINT
The dew point is the temperature at which the air becomes saturated with water
vapor it holds as much moisture as it can at that specific temperature. When the
air reaches this temperature, any additional cooling will cause the water vapor to
condense into liquid water droplets. Dew point use as temperature and humidity
indicator and also plays a role in the formation of fog further it helps to create
clouds.

HUMIDITY
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. If there is a lot of water vapor in
the air, the humidity will be high. The higher the humidity, the wetter it feels
outside. humidity is usually explained as relative humidity. It expressed as a
percentage of the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at the same
temperature. Humidity levels influence crop growth and heath. Humidity can
affect plants transpiration, disease prevalence and crop yields and also humidity
important to store dry foods.

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RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Relative humidity (RH) refers to the moisture content of the atmosphere,

expressed as a percentage of the amount of moisture that can be retained by the
atmosphere (moisture-holding capacity) at a given temperature and pressure
without condensation. Relative Humidity is calculated by dividing the actual
amount of water vapor in the air by the maximum amount of water vapor the air
could hold at that specific temperature, and then multiplying the result by 100 to
express it as a percentage. We can use relative humidity meter to measure the
relative humidity.

Importance of Humidity,

• Wood and Material Preservation

• Food Preservation
• Weather and Meteorology

REFERENCE
Solar Radiation Basics. (n.d.). Energy.gov.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-radiation-
basics#:~:text=Solar%20radiation%2C%20often%20called%20the,using%20a%20v
ariety%20of%20technologies.

Albedo - Energy Education. (n.d.).

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Albedo

VAPOUR PRESSURE - Google Search. (n.d.).

https://www.google.com/search?q=VAPOUR+PRESSURE&oq=VAPOUR+PRESSURE
&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBBzkxMGowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chro
me&ie=UTF-8

Yahia, E. M. (2019). Introduction. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 1–41).

https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-813276-0.00001-8