Table of Contents
What is it called when the sun hits the Earth?
All of the energy from the Sun that reaches the Earth arrives as solar radiation, part of a large collection of energy called the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. Solar radiation includes visible light, ultraviolet light, infrared, radio waves, X-rays, and gamma rays.
What happens when the sun hits the Earth’s surface?
Energy released from the Sun is emitted as shortwave light and ultraviolet energy. When it reaches the Earth, some is reflected back to space by clouds, some is absorbed by the atmosphere, and some is absorbed at the Earth’s surface.
What does the sun makes the surface of the Earth?
Solar radiation that is not absorbed or reflected by the atmosphere (for example by clouds) reaches the surface of the Earth. In total approximately 70% of incoming radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface while around 30% is reflected back to space and does not heat the surface.
What does the sun’s declination refers to?
The declination of the Sun, δ☉, is the angle between the rays of the Sun and the plane of the Earth’s equator. The Earth’s axial tilt (called the obliquity of the ecliptic by astronomers) is the angle between the Earth’s axis and a line perpendicular to the Earth’s orbit.
What latitude is sun directly overhead?
23.5° latitude
You may have noticed two special lines of latitude on a globe of the world: One in the Northern Hemisphere called the Tropic of Cancer at +23.5° latitude and one in the Southern Hemisphere called the Tropic of Capricorn at − 23.5° latitude. These are the latitudes where the Sun is directly overhead at noon once a year.
What is meant by the term hydrosphere?
Powered by A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet’s hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice. On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes and rivers.
What happens on the sun’s energy when it passes through the exosphere?
The exosphere is the uppermost region of Earth’s atmosphere as it gradually fades into the vacuum of space. The earth-atmosphere energy balance is the balance between incoming energy from the Sun and outgoing energy from the Earth. The Energy released from the Sun is emitted as shortwave light and ultraviolet energy.
What is the composition of the sun?
The Sun is a huge ball of hydrogen and helium held together by its own gravity.
What irradiance means?
Irradiance is defined as the energy per unit time that strikes a unit horizontal area per unit wavelength interval, where the typical unit is W m−2 nm−1.
What do you mean by the term insolation?
Insolation is the amount of solar radiation received on a given surface in a given time period.