How is the Heat Budget of Earth Analyzed and Calculated?
Suppose that the top of the atmosphere receives 100% of the insolation. Only a small portion of the energy that enters the atmosphere is absorbed, scattered, and reflected, returning the remaining energy to the Earth’s surface.Before the radiation even reaches the surface of the Earth, about 35 units are reflected into space. The Earth’s albedo is the total of these, of which 27 are reflected from cloud tops and 2 from regions covered in snow and ice.
51 units of terrestrial radiation are emitted by the Earth. Thirty-four of them are absorbed by the atmosphere, while seventeen are released straight into space. Six of these are absorbed immediately, nine via turbulence and convection, and nineteen through the latent heat of condensation. The Earth and its atmosphere absorb the remaining 65 units. Of this, 51 units are absorbed by the Earth’s surface, while 14 units are absorbed within the atmosphere.
The 48 units that the atmosphere emits back into space are made up of 34 units from terrestrial radiation and 14 units from insolation.Since the total radiation returning from Earth and the atmosphere is 17 and 48 units, respectively, the 65 units of solar insolation received are balanced by the total radiation returning from Earth and the atmosphere.
Heat Budget of Earth
Heat Budget of Earth: Heat is a form of energy, received by the earth from the sun. Heat Budget deals with the amount of heat energy received from the sun and its utilization in the atmosphere and the surface of the earth. This explains why the earth neither warms up nor cools down despite the huge transfer of heat that takes place.
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Table of Content
- Heat Budget of Earth Diagram
- What is Heat Budget of Earth?
- Heat Budget of Earth – explained with an example
- Components of Heat Budget
- Importance of Heat Budget of Earth
- Effects of Heat Budget of Earth
- Variation in the Heat Budget of Earth
- How is the Heat Budget of Earth Analyzed and Calculated?