Solar Radiation On Earth Surface

It takes approximately eight minutes for solar radiation to reach the earth after leaving the sun s surface.

Solar radiation on earth surface.

It is measured on a surface perpendicular to the rays one astronomical unit au from the sun roughly the distance from the sun to the earth. The sun is generally considered to produce a constant amount of power although there are small variances in the output energy depending on sunspot cycles with a surface intensity of expressed in units of power per unit area as the sun s rays spread into space this radiation becomes less and less intense as an inverse square law. Solar irradiance is the power per unit area received from the sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation as reported in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar radiation reaches earth s surface as 1 direct beam solar radiation 2 diffuse solar radiation and 3 reflected radiation which can be neglected.

The solar radiation that reaches the earth s surface without being diffused is called direct beam solar radiation. The solar constant includes all types of solar radiation other than neutrinos not just the visible light. Cloud cover air pollution latitude of a location and the time of the year can all cause variations in solar radiance at the earth s surface. Calculating solar energy to surface energy from sun to earth.

The solar constant g sc is a flux density measuring mean solar electromagnetic radiation solar irradiance per unit area. Solar radiation at the earth s surface varies from the solar radiation incident on the earth s atmosphere. Atmospheric conditions can reduce direct beam radiation by 10 on clear dry days and by 100 during thick. This intense solar radiation as it is known in physical geography originates in the sun s core and is eventually sent to earth after convection the vertical movement of energy forces it away from the sun s core.

This is called diffuse solar radiation. The solar irradiance is measured in watt per square metre w m 2 in si units solar irradiance is often integrated over a given time period in order to report the radiant energy emitted into the surrounding environment.