Lecture 6
Solar Energy, Temperatures and Climate
1
Important facts to remember
• Solar energy (Sun) drives all major processes on the
Earth’s Planet.
• The solar energy received varies across the earth with
the energy decreasing as one moves from the tropics to
the temperate and polar regions.
• Solar energy received determines world temperatures
as well as influences climates/rainfall received.
• For example, the sun is the originator of energy that
drives photosynthesizes which all life on the earth
relies on.
• Therefore the global main biomes owe their existence
to the energy received from the sun.
2
Why is it important to understand solar energy flow and
balance…..in order to comprehend how it drives earth
Short wavelength radiations systems
Long wavelengths radiations
Hypothetically, the earth receives 100 units of energy as shorts wavelengths radiations from the sun and emits
Solar Energy Distribution
Sun energy warms the earth and is transferred through radiation, conduction, and
convection throughout the Earth’s systems (e.g., biological, water, soil, and
atmosphere components).
• Conduction is the transfer of heat from one molecule to another within a substance
or between substances that are in direct contact with each other. Heat energy moves
from warmer to colder areas.
• Convection is the transfer of heat through the movement of a fluid such as water
or air. As the Earth’s surface absorbs sunlight, certain portions of the surface
absorb more than other portions. The Earth’s surface and the air near the surface
heats unevenly. The warmest air expands, becoming less dense than the
surrounding cool air, which becomes buoyant and rises. These rising “bubbles” of
warm air, called thermals, act to transfer heat up into the atmosphere. These
thermals can result in the formation of clouds, which in turn can serve as another
vector of energy transfer.
• Radiation is transfer of energy from the Sun as electromagnetic radiant energy.
Radiation is different from conduction in that radiant energy travels from the sun
(or other glowing bodies) through space in the form of invisible waves rather than
transferring heat from molecule to molecule. When a solid object, like Earth,
absorbs radiant energy waves, the energy becomes heat. The darker and more
opaque the materials are that absorb waves of radiant energy, the faster the
molecules of the material move and the hotter they become.
• Much of the heat /energy from the Sun’s radiant energy onto the Earth is
transferred back into the atmosphere and back to the sun.
Solar Energy and Temperature
Solar Radiation and Latitude:
• Sunlight warms the earth and makes it habitable. In addition, it is
captured by green plants during photosynthesize (chemical energy).
• The angle of incoming radiant energy relative to the earth’s surface
affects the quantity of heat absorbed.
• The most intense heating occurs when the surface is perpendicular to
incident solar radiation for two reasons:
the greatest quantity of energy is delivered to the smallest surface
area,
the minimal amount of radiation is absorbed or reflected back into
space during passage through the atmosphere since the distance
traveled is minimized.
• This differential heating is the reason why the temperatures are highest
during mid-day and while lowest at dawn and dusk and why
temperatures are higher in the tropics than at the poles.
• Since the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees from the vertical axis with respect
to the sun, solar radiation falls perpendicularly on different parts of the
earth during an annual cycle.
• This differential heating produces seasons as the sun moves between the
Tropical of Cancer (north) and the Tropical of Capricorn (south).
Solar Energy and Temperature
Tilted Earth Distance covered by solar energy
Solar Energy, Temperature and Climate
Winds and Rainfall:
• The differential heating of air masses causes movement of air (as
wind) between latitudes, a phenomenon called ‘global
atmospheric circulation’.
• Global atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air
and together with ocean circulation are the means by which
thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth.
• The Earth is surrounded by a thin layer of air called the
atmosphere. The air in the atmosphere moves in response to
differences in temperature at the equator (warm) and the poles
(cold).
• The Earth's weather is a consequence of its illumination by the
Sun, and the laws of thermodynamics.
• The energy causes the motion of the masses of air and during that
process, it redistributes the energy absorbed by the Earth's surface
near the tropics to the latitudes nearer the poles, and then to space.
Global atmospheric circulation
The Process:
• In the Hadley cell, the air move north to south,
but it is deflected to the right by Coriolis. So the
air blows from northeast to the southwest. This
belt is the trade winds, so called because the
winds were used in sailing ships, so were good
for trade.
• In the Ferrel cell air should move south to north,
but the winds actually blow from the southwest.
This belt is the westerly winds or westerlies.
• Finally, in the Polar cell, the winds travel from
the northeast and are called the polar easterlies.
The wind belts are named for the directions from
which the winds come.
• Note: In contrast to the Hadley, Ferrel and polar
circulations that run along north-south lines, the
Walker circulation is an east-west circulation.
This is responsible for El Niño – Southern
Oscillation. This is rare and is regarded as
abnormal air circulation phenomenon
Global atmospheric circulation
Global Winds and Rainfall:
• Besides their effect on the
global wind belts, the high and
low pressure areas created by
the six atmospheric circulation
cells determine in a general
way the amount of
precipitation a region receives.
• In low pressure regions, where
air is rising, rain is common. In
high pressure areas, the sinking
air causes evaporation and the
region is usually dry and
deserts occur.
Global atmospheric circulation
Global Winds and Rainfall
• Tropical monsoon climate:
The monsoon climate/ weather/ rains are induced by the high-sun
season and location of the InterTropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ), which induces rain.
When air raises during dry seasons, it creates low-pressure zones
which are filled with air being blown by Northeasterly (NE) and
Southeasterly (SE) Trade Winds.
This blown wind air converges, raises up, and cools to give rains,
hence referred to as ITCZ
However, the location of the ITCZ belt determines the flowing
direction of the wind. The moment the winds (NE and SE) cross
the real Equator they change direction due to Coriolis force.
The Coriolis effect describes the tendency of moving objects to
veer right in the Northern hemisphere and left in the Southern
Hemisphere.
The winds do not blow in exactly in the north or south direction,
instead they appear to be deflected towards the east or west by the
Coriolis effect (Coriolis force).
Global atmospheric circulation
Solar Energy, Temperature and Climate
Summary:
• Sinking air cause high pressure while raising air causes low pressure.
• The wind is air moving from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressures.
• The low-pressure areas are areas of high rainfall, like the tropical rainforests,
whereas high pressure have dry air and are dominated by deserts.
• Deserts are found along 30° North and 30° South of the equator because that where
cloudless / moistureless air sink.
• This descending / sinking air warms and can therefore absorb more moisture, drying
the land and where these belts lie we have the earth’s great deserts (e.g. Sahara desert
in North Africa and the Kalahari Desert in South Africa).
• Alternatively, in the tropics where the air warms, it can absorb increasing amounts of
water vapour evaporated from land and water.
• As water vapor raises up, it cools, condenses, forms clouds and when the particles of
water or ice become too heavy to remain airborne they fall as rain or snow.
• In the tropics, the cooling ascending warm air laden with water vapour produces
heavy rainfall at low and middle elevation, where rain forests and cloud forests occur.
• Rainy seasons in the tropics tend to fall when the sun is directly overhead and when
the most intense heating occurs.
• ITCZ is the main driver or source of rains received in Kenya.
• Meanwhile, oceans also transfer approximately 20% of the total heat from the tropics
to the poles.
