Solar Radiation, Heat Balance and Temperature Test - 1

Very small suspended particles in the troposphere scatter visible spectrum both to the space and towards earth's 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 the scattering of light within the 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. 

The insolation received at the surface varies from about 320 Watt/m² in the tropics to about 70 Watt/m² in the poles.

Places located at higher latitudes will get longer daytime. Here, is the latitude of the given places:

​Thiruvananthapuram: 8.52°N,

Hyderabad: 17.38°N,

Chandigarh: 30.7°N,

Nagpur: 21.14°N.

On 3rd January, the earth is the nearest to the sun (147 million km). This position is called perihelion. 

The transfer of heat through horizontal movement of air is called advection.

In January the isotherms deviate to the north over the ocean and to the south over the continent. This can be seen on the North Atlantic Ocean.

The fact that the earth’s axis makes an angle of 66½° angle with the plane of its orbit around the sun has a greater influence on the amount of insolation received at different latitudes. 

The atmosphere of the earth is heated by radiation which is mainly by the radiation from the sun. The atmosphere is mainly heated by the long wave terrestrial radiation. The solar radiation heats the surface of the land. As a result, this heat is carried as convection currents to the higher realms of the atmosphere.

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.