Atmosphere Contents

4. Energy Budgets

Many factors influence the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface

Click arrow to move up and down

In the present context the radiation emitted by the sun, which hits the Earth's surface, is assumed to be constant, known as the solar constant. This provides a theoretical energy input, per unit area, into the Earth's, but this will vary significantly over the surface because of seasonal and diurnal variations, the spherical shape of the Earth, the orbit shape of the Earth and the tilt of the Earth's axis. In simple calculations we can use the solar constant, however, the sun is subject to the 11 year solar cycle.

What influences the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface?