© 2013, Astronomical Society of the Pacific

No. 84 • Summer 2013 www.astrosociety.org/uitc 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112

Energy Budget: Earth’s most important and least appreciated

planetary attribute
by Lin Chambers (NASA Langley Research Center) and Katie Bethea (SSAI)

B
asking in the Sun on a warm day, it’s easy for know some species of animals can see ultraviolet
people to realize that most of the energy on light and portions of the infrared spectrum. NASA
Earth comes from the Sun; students know satellites use instruments that can “see” different
this as early as elementary school. We all know parts of the electromagnetic spectrum to observe
plants use this energy from the Sun for photosyn- various processes in the Earth system, including the
thesis, and animals eat plants, creating a giant food energy budget.
web. Most people also understand the Sun’s energy The Sun is a very hot ball of plasma emitting large
drives evaporation and thus powers the water cycle. amounts of energy. By the time it reaches Earth, this
But many people do not realize the Sun’s energy it- energy amounts to about 340 Watts for every square
self is also part of an important interconnected sys- meter of Earth on average. That’s almost 6 60-Watt
tem: Earth’s energy budget or balance. This energy light bulbs for every square meter of Earth! With
budget determines conditions on our planet — just all of that energy shining down on the Earth, how
like the energy budget of other planets determines does our planet maintain a comfortable balance that
conditions there. allows a complex ecosystem, including humans, to
thrive? The key thing to remember is the Sun — hot
Key Concepts though it is — is a tiny part of Earth’s environment.
Figure 1. The orbit of the earth around the sun, with all sizes and
The energy budget involves more than one kind of The rest is cold, dark space. (See Figure 1.) locations to scale. The white dot near the center is the sun, and the
energy. People can sense this energy in different blue line is the path of the earth through-out the year. The earth
itself is not visible because at this scale it is only 0.02 pixels wide. The
ways, depending on what type of energy it is. We Comparing Planets distance of the earth from the sun is more or less constant through-
see visible light using our eyes. We feel infrared en- We know from astronomers and space missions out the year. Image courtesy of Dr. Christopher Baird, University of
Massachusetts Lowell.
ergy using our skin (such as around a campfire). We the average surface temperature of the planet

Universe in the Classroom No. 84 • Summer 2013 Page 1

Mercury is about 167 C (~332 F). It makes sense the key elements of this budget and to quantify its
that Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, is very various components. Hunt et al. (1986) summarizes
hot; certainly too warm for life. We also know the work in this area prior to the satellite era. Beginning
average surface temperature on Mars is about -65 C with the launch of Nimbus-7 in 1978, scientists
(~-85 F). Again it makes sense that Mars, 1.5 times began to study the energy budget from space. (See
farther from the Sun than Earth, is colder and less Figures 2 and 3.) In particular, a series of NASA
hospitable. Things get more complicated, however, instruments have been dedicated to understand-
when we consider Venus. While nearly twice as far ing and monitoring the energy budget since the
from the Sun as Mercury, the average temperature mid-1980s: the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment
on Venus is considerably hotter: 464 C! (ERBE; http://science.larc.nasa.gov/erbe/) and the
It is clear something other than just distance Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System
from the Sun must be important in determining av- (CERES; http://ceres.larc.nasa.gov/). Kiehl and
erage planetary temperature. Scientists have learned Trenberth (1997) published an energy budget dia- Figure 3. Image of data from ERBS showing long-wave radiation
emitted by the Earth. Image: NASA
the high temperatures on Venus are due to its thick, gram that has become something of a standard. It
carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and its 100% uses data from satellites, ground-based instruments,
cloud cover. These factors combine to retain energy aircraft field campaigns, and computer models to Earth science. Fragments of the concept, such as
within the atmosphere and increase the equilibrium estimate the magnitude of each type of energy flow. energy from the Sun, appear as early as 3rd grade.
surface temperature of the planet. In the AAAS benchmarks (AAAS, 1993), pieces of
On Earth, a calculation as early as the 1820s Connecting to the Standards the energy budget concept appears across a number
(Fourier, 1824) indicated the surface temperature Ideas related to the energy budget appear in educa- of benchmarks in the section titled The Physical
of the Earth was higher than expected solely on the tional standards. For example, in Virginia the con- Setting, including high school benchmarks about
basis of its distance from the Sun (-18 C or 0 F). cept appears in 6th grade science and in high school The Earth (4B/H2, H4 and H6); a middle school
This led to coining of the term “greenhouse effect,” benchmark on Processes that Shape the Earth (4C/
for the process by which gases and clouds in Earth’s M7); and primary, elementary, middle and high
atmosphere increase the average surface tempera- school benchmarks on Energy Transformations
ture to a comfortable 15 C (~59 F). (4E/P1, 4E/E2c, 4E/M3 and M6, 4E/H1). In the
National Science Education Standards, the topic
Energy Budget History appears under Transfer of Energy in the middle
The concept tying together our understanding of school Physical Science Standards, and under
conditions on all these planets is termed the “energy Energy in the Earth System in High School. In
budget.” This balance between incoming and outgo- neither of these sets of national standards is the full
ing energy determines the equilibrium temperature picture of the entire energy budget process clearly
of an object in space, because the object will heat up laid out. As a result, few people have a clear grasp of
until the amount of energy it gives off is equal to the this basic idea.
amount it is receiving. The energy budget and its component concepts
For Earth, scientists have been working since Figure 2. The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was placed in were well-represented in the January 2013 draft of
the early 1900s to lay out a diagram summarizing orbit by the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984. Image: NASA the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Universe in the Classroom No. 84 • Summer 2013 Page 2

In the final standards (http://www.nextgenscience. does get to the surface,
org/) the concept is captured in Disciplinary Core and once it gets there, the
Idea ESS2.D Weather and Climate, and in High ground, trees, and every-
School standard ESS2-4, with fragments of the con- thing else around us can
cept appearing elsewhere. absorb the energy.
• However, there are some
The Story of Earth’s Energy Budget parts of Earth’s surface that
Based on 10 years of CERES data, we have created are highly reflective, like
an updated version of the Kiehl and Trenberth ice or snow, so in addition
(1997) diagram (see Figure 4). To further convey to absorbing energy, it also
this important concept, we have also developed an bounces off of parts of the
energy budget storyboard (http://science-edu.larc. surface and heads right
nasa.gov/energy_budget/pdf/EarthsEnergyBudget- back out into space.
Storyboard_031913_sm.pdf) that walks through • All of the energy the Earth
Figure 5. Additional evidence for a warming planet that are consistent with our best estimate of
the budget as follows: absorbs doesn’t just stay the Earth’s energy budget in the last decade. Image: NOAA
• Energy enters the Earth system from the Sun. there and build up forever.
• Some of the energy reflects off of clouds, dust, The Earth system radiates
and other particles and never makes it to this energy out towards space as heat. Cold resulted in just the right living conditions for
Earth’s surface. Most of the energy, however, objects emit less energy; warm objects emit us on Earth.
more. • Like your house, anything that increases or
• Most of the heat emitted from the decreases the amount of incoming or outgoing
surface is stopped on its way back energy would disturb Earth’s energy balance
out. Clouds and certain gases in and would cause global temperatures to rise or
the atmosphere absorb the energy, fall.
preventing it from leaving the sys- • Over the last decade, our best estimate is there
tem. Only a small “window” allows is a small positive imbalance – a warming - in
direct escape. Earth’s energy budget.
• Energy emitted from those clouds • This observation is consistent with several
and gases goes in all directions. other lines of evidence of a warming planet. See
Some comes back to further warm Figure 5.
the Earth. This is the greenhouse
effect. Lessons, Activities and Resources
• Finally, the surface energy budget The diagram in Figure 4 is an annual, global average
is balanced by thermals and evapo- conception of Earth’s energy budget. In reality, the
ration. various energy fluxes are constantly changing, from
Figure 4. Best estimate of components of the Earth’s energy budget, expressed as a
• Together all of these forms of in- day to night and from season to season. Data on en-
percentage of the Sun’s energy, based on 10 years of CERES data. Image: NASA coming and outgoing energy have ergy budget parameters from the ERBE and CERES

Universe in the Classroom No. 84 • Summer 2013 Page 3

instruments are available on the MY NASA DATA The NASA/CERES version of the energy budget Ann T., 1986: A history of presatellite investigations
website (http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov). diagram (Figure 4) is also available in a printable of the Earth’s Radiation Budget, Rev. Geo., V. 24, pp.
To guide exploration of these data, ten peer- poster size version (http://science-edu.larc.nasa. 351-356.
reviewed lesson plans are available (http://myna- gov/energy_budget/). This website also features a
sadata.larc.nasa.gov/lesson-plans/) using these pa- “Make your own” option for the reverse side of the Kiehl, J. T. and K. E. Trenberth, 1997: Earth’s
rameters to explore a range of related ideas. A few poster. Six information packed pages were devel- Annual Global Mean Energy Budget, Bull. Amer.
of these lessons directly address the energy budget oped to fill the poster reverse, but two word activi- Meteor. Soc., V. 78, No. 2, pp. 197-208.
concept. These include: ties and two supplemental pages are also currently
1. E arth’s Energy Budget — Seasonal Cycles in available. This variety of information allows teach- Resources for Further Investigation
Net Radiative Flux ers the option to customize a poster to better meet
2. Variables Affecting Earth’s Albedo the needs of their grade level; or to simply print The Global Climate Change page from NASA
3. H ow Does the Earth’s Energy Budget Relate to one or more of the individual sheets for a variety of http://climate.nasa.gov/
Polar Ice? classroom uses. More supplemental sheets may be
The rest make use of these parameters for other, added later, as inspiration strikes. A lesson plan on The Earth’s Energy Budget from
sometimes creative, educational purposes: the NOAA Ocean Service Education page
1. S cientist Tracking Network (Student LAS Conclusions http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/
Version) Earth’s energy budget is a critical but little un- earth_energy_budget_lesson.html
2. S olar Cell Energy Availability From Around derstood aspect of our planetary home. NASA is ac-
the Country tively studying this important Earth system feature, The Educational Resource page from the Earth
3. C orrelation of Variables by Graphing and sharing data and knowledge about it with the Systems Research Laboratory at NOAA
4. I s Portland, Oregon Experiencing Global education community. http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/outreach/education.html
Warming?
5. Th
 ink GREEN – Utilizing Renewable Solar Featured Activity The Outreach and Education page of the Climate
Energy How Does the Earth’s Energy Budget Relate to Polar Program Office at NOAA
6. R adiation Comparison Before and After 9-11 Ice? http://cpo.noaa.gov/OutreachandEducation.aspx
7. P hytoplankton in the Gulf of Maine
In addition to these lessons, these data param- References A Paleo-Perspective on Global Warming
eters can be used for many other explorations of http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwarming/
Earth’s energy budget concepts. AAAS, 1993: now available online at This website includes pages on the Instrumental
For citizen scientists, the MY NASA DATA web- http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/ Record of Past Global Temperatures, and
site also offers science project ideas (http://mynasa- Paleoclimatic Data throughout history
data.larc.nasa.gov/804-2/), several of which relate to Fourier, J., 1824: “Remarques Générales Sur Les
the energy budget: Températures Du Globe Terrestre Et Des Espaces Earth’s Energy Balance from the Climate Change
1. M easuring the Temperature of the Sky and Planétaires.” Annales de Chemie et de Physique 27: Education page on the website of Stanford
Clouds 136-67. University and the School of Earth Sciences
2. Measuring Sunlight https://pangea.stanford.edu/programs/outreach/cli-
3. M easuring the Earth’s Water Vapor Blanket Hunt, Garry E., Kandel, Robert, Mecherikunnel, matechange/curriculum/earths-energy-balance-0

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