Geo-5 Insolation and Heat Budget

HOW IS POVERTY MEASURED IN
INDIA?
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ANIUPSC
INTRODUCTION
The earth receives heat energy from three basic sources viz.
1. solar radiation,
2. gravity, and
3. endogenetic forces coming from within the earth
but the solar radiation is the most significant source of terrestrial heat
energy.
Solar Radiation
The sun is a gaseous, spherical mass
whose surface temperature
(photosphere) is 6000°C.
The source of energy of the sun lies in its

core where hydrogen is converted into
helium (nuclear fusion) which generates
huge quantity of heat.
This heat is transported to the outer

surface of the sun through convection
and conduction.
However, the earth’s atmosphere is
not heated by this incoming Short-
Wave insolation. INSOLATION
The solar energy radiated from the outer surface of the sun in the form
of electromagnetic wave is called as electromagnetic radiation.
The solar energy received at the earth's surface is called insolation or

solar radiation.
Only One In Two Billion Parts
Radiation received by the earth is very small in percentage of the total
solar radiation released by the sun.
It is only one in two billion parts. This is because of:

1. Great distance of the earth from the sun (approximately 151 Million
km).
2. The size of the earth is very small as compared to sun; thus it can’t
receive the larger part of radiation.
Only One In Two Billion Parts
Even this small proportion is of great importance.
Provides 99.97 per cent of energy to atmosphere, oceans and controls

many phenomena on the earth.
It drives winds, ocean currents, denudation processes, hydrological

cycle and to many extent life cycle also on the earth.
Perihelion and Aphelion
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).
Variability of Insolation at the Surface of the
Earth
The amount and the intensity of insolation vary during a day, in a
season and in a year. The factors causing these variations in insolation :
(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.
Note: The last two however, have less influence.
(i) The rotation of earth on its
axis;
The fact that the earth’s axis
makes an angle of 66½ degree
with the plane of its orbit round
the sun has a greater influence on
the amount of insolation received
at different latitudes.
(ii) The angle of inclination of the sun’s 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.
(iii) The length of the day: If all the other conditions are favourable
and equal then longer duration of sunshine (or length of day) and
shorter duration of night enable the ground surface to receive larger
amount of insolation.
(iii) The length of the day: If all the other conditions are favourable
and equal then longer duration of sunshine (or length of day) and
shorter duration of night enable the ground surface to receive larger
amount of insolation.
Effect of Solar Radiation on the atmosphere
When a solar radiation passes through the atmosphere of the earth to

reach to its surface, its intensity or energy is depleted due to
reflection, scattering and absorption of solar energy by the
atmosphere.
Absorption Scattering
When solar
Absorption is the
radiations enter the
process by which
earth’s atmosphere,
the certain part of
the radiation is
insolation is retained
diffused in all
by the atmosphere
directions by these
and converted into
small particles, and
some other form of
this process is
energy.
known as scattering.
What is Albedo?
The term ‘albedo’ is used to describe the
reflection of solar radiation by the earth
surface and its atmosphere.
It is further defined as the ratio of
radiation reflected from an object

= total amount that falls on it.
Global Distribution of Albedo
On South Pole it is more than the North Pole due to the presence of
more ice on Antarctica than Arctic.
Fresh snow has higher albedo than the old snow.

Global Distribution of Albedo
Albedo also changes with the change in the angle of falling insolation,
over the same surface, at the different times in a day or the year.
It is relatively high in early morning and late evening, when the sun is
low and relatively low when the sun is high and its rays are almost
vertical.
Background to Heat Budget
Average temperature of the earth remains more or less constant.
(Maintains temperature of the earth at 15⁰C.)
It has been possible because of the balance between the

 amount of incoming solar radiation (short wave) and
 amount of outgoing terrestrial radiation (long wave).
This balance of incoming and outgoing radiation has been termed the
earth's heat budget.
HEAT BUDGET
Let us assume that the total heat received at the top of the
atmosphere is 100 units.
1. 35 units are reflected back to space even before reaching the
earth's surface.
i. 27 units from top of the clouds
ii. 2 units from the snow and ice-covered areas
iii. 6 units by suspended particulate matter.
Note: The reflected amount of radiation is called the albedo of the

earth. It is 35%.
2. 65 units absorbed by both the atmosphere and earth surface.
i. 14 units absorbed within the atmosphere
ii. 51 units by the earth's surface.
3. Of these 51 units, 17 units are radiated to space directly and the

remaining 34 units are absorbed by the atmosphere
i. 6 units absorbed directly by the atmosphere,
ii. 9 units through convection and turbulence
iii. 19 units through latent heat of condensation
4. 48 units absorbed by the atmosphere (14 units from insolation +34
units from terrestrial radiation) are also radiated back into space.
Thus, the total radiation returning from the earth and the atmosphere -
respectively is 17+48 = 65 units which balance the total of 65 units
received from the sun.
This is termed the heat budget or heat
balance of the earth.
UPSC Pre 2013
Q. Variations in the length of daytime and night-time from season to
season are due to
(a) the earth's rotation on its axis
(b) the earth's revolution round the sun in an elliptical manner
(c) latitudinal position of the place
(d) revolution of the earth on a tilted axis
UPSC Pre 2012
Q. Normally, the temperature decreases with the increase in height
from the Earth's surface, because
1. the atmosphere can be heated upwards only from the Earth's
surface
2. there is more moisture in the upper atmosphere
3. the air is less dense in the upper atmosphere
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Scattering-
As we have discussed in the previous chapter only that apart from the
gases, there are small particulate matter present in good numbers in
the atmosphere.
When solar radiations enter the earth’s atmosphere, the radiation is
diffused in all directions by these small particles, and this process is
known as scattering.
The process of scattering was first explained by a British, Lord Rayleigh.
That’s why it is known as Rayleigh scattering also.
The amount and direction of scattering largely depends upon the
following two factors:
1. Ratio of the radius of the dust particle to the wavelength of the
insolation.
2. The amount of scattering is inversely proportional to the fourth
power of the wavelength of insolation.
Effects of scattering-
(i) Sky appears to be blue, orange or red due to scattering .The colour
of the sky depends upon the sun’s height above the horizon and the
length of the path travelled by insolation through the atmosphere. Sky
looks black from space or from the moon due to the absence of
atmosphere /scattering.
(ii) A shaded area or a room where direct sun light does not reach is
also illuminated due to scattering.
(iii) It produces diffused light which is the reason behind brightness of
the day time sky.
Code: ANIUPSC
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HOW IS POVERTY MEASURED IN

The source of energy of the sun lies in its

This heat is transported to the outer

The solar energy received at the earth's surface is called insolation or

It is only one in two billion parts. This is because of:

Provides 99.97 per cent of energy to atmosphere, oceans and controls

It drives winds, ocean currents, denudation processes, hydrological

(i) The rotation of earth on its axis;

When a solar radiation passes through the atmosphere of the earth to

It is further defined as the ratio of

radiation reflected from an object

Fresh snow has higher albedo than the old snow.

It has been possible because of the balance between the

Note: The reflected amount of radiation is called the albedo of the

3. Of these 51 units, 17 units are radiated to space directly and the

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