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Solar Radiation
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- The earth’s surface receives most of its energy in short wavelengths. The energy received by the earth is known as incoming solar radiation which in short is termed as insolation
- As the earth is a geoid resembling a sphere, the sun’s rays fall obliquely at the top of the atmosphere and the earth intercepts a very small portion of the sun’s energy.
- On an average the earth receives 1.94 calories per sq. cm per minute at the top of its atmosphere.
- During its revolution around the sun, the earth is farthest from the sun (152 million km) on 4th July. This position of the earth is called aphelion.
- On 3rd January, the earth is the nearest to the sun (147 million km). This position is called perihelion.
- Therefore, the annual insolation received by the earth on 3rd January is slightly more than the amount received on 4th July.
- Variation in the solar output does not have great effect on daily weather changes on the surface of the earth.
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Variability of Insolation at the Surface of the Earth
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- The amount and the intensity of insolation vary during a day, in a season and in a year. The factors that cause these variations in insolation are : (i) the rotation of earth on its axis; (ii) the angle of inclination of the sun’s rays; (iii) the length of the day; (iv) the transparency of the atmosphere; (v) the configuration of land in terms of its aspect. The last two however, have less influence.
- The fact that the earth’s axis makes an angle of 66 with the plane of its orbit round the sun has a greater influence on the amount of insolation received at different latitudes.
- The second factor that determines the amount of insolation received is the angle of inclination of the rays. This depends on the latitude of a place.
- The higher the latitude the less is the angle they make with the surface of the earth resulting in slant sun rays.
- The area covered by vertical rays is always less than the slant rays. If more area is covered, the energy gets distributed and the net energy received per unit area decreases.
- Moreover, the slant rays are required to pass through greater depth of the atmosphere resulting in more absorption, scattering and diffusion.
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The Passage of Solar Radiation through the Atmosphere
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- The atmosphere is largely transparent to short wave solar radiation.
- The incoming solar radiation passes through the atmosphere before striking the earth’s surface.
- Within the troposphere water vapour, ozone and other gases absorb much of the near infrared radiation.
- Very small-suspended particles in the troposphere scatter visible spectrum both to the space and towards the earth surface.
- This process adds colour to the sky.
- The red colour of the rising and the setting sun and the blue colour of the sky are the result of scattering of light within the atmosphere.
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Spatial Distribution of Insolation at the Earth’s Surface
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- The insolation received at the surface varies from about 320 Watt/m2 in the tropics to about 70 Watt/m2 in the poles.
- Maximum insolation is received over the subtropical deserts, where the cloudiness is the least.
- Equator receives comparatively less insolation than the tropics.
- Generally, at the same latitude the insolation is more over the continent than over the oceans.
- In winter, the middle and higher latitudes receive less radiation than in summer.
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