RADIATION AND HEAT BUDGET

Radiation can simply be defined as the process in which energy travel through space or vacuum, or
through matter containing media that are not required for their propagation. Though non ionizing
radiation is essential to life, yet excessive exposure can cause serious skin and tissue damages. In
agriculture the most familiar form of is solar radiation from the sun which is the primary source of
heat and light.
Life depends substantially on solar radiation because all physical and biological processes taking
place on the earth’s surface or in the atmosphere involve some form of energy transfer. Solar
radiation is also a major requirement for other processes related to water, land, soil, vegetation and
animals. The sun provides over 99 per cent of the heat energy required for the physical processes
taking place in the earth – the atmospheric system. As the sun radiates its energy, the amount
received at the outer boundary of the earth’s atmosphere, at normal incidence and at mean distance
between the earth and the sun is known as the solar constant
Sunlight consists primarily of radiation in infrared (IR), visible (V), and ultraviolet (UV). The
higher frequencies of solar radiation consists x-rays and gamma rays, while the lower frequencies
consist of UV, IR, MW, RF and ELF. (MW – Microwave, RF – Radiowave, ELF – Extremely low
frequency)

RADIATION BUDGET
The Earth's Radiation Budget is a concept used for understanding of how much energy the Earth
gets from the Sun and How much energy the Earth-system radiates back to outer space as invisible
light. If the Earth and the Earth's atmosphere retain more solar energy than it radiates back to space,
the Earth will warm. If the Earth and the Earth-system radiates more energy to space than it
receives from the sun, the Earth will cool.
If the Earth retains more energy from the Sun, the Earth warms and emits more infrared energy.
This brings the Earth's Radiation Budget into balance. If the Earth emits more of this energy than it
absorbs, the Earth cools. As it cools, the Earth emits less energy. This change also brings the
Radiation Budget back into balance.
Absorbed sunlight raises the Earth's temperature. Emitted radiation or heat lowers the temperature.
When absorbed sunlight and emitted heat balance each other, the Earth's temperature doesn't
change - the radiation budget is in balance.
Basic Parts of the Radiation Budget are; Solar Incident Energy, Solar Reflected Energy, Earth
Emitted Energy.
Incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's surface, water vapor, gases, and aerosols in
the atmosphere. This incoming solar radiation is also reflected by the Earth's surface, by clouds,
and by the atmosphere. Energy that is absorbed is emitted by the Earth-atmosphere system as
longwave radiation.
Earth and its atmosphere absorb about 64 percent of the insolation. Land and water surfaces of
Earth absorb 51% of this insolation. Ozone, carbon dioxide, and water vapor directly absorb the
remaining 13 percent. These gases absorb the insolation at certain wavelengths. For
example, ozone absorbs only a small percentage of the insolation. The portion or type the ozone
does absorb is critical since it reduces ultraviolet radiation to a level where animal life can safely
exist. The most important absorption occurs with carbon dioxide and water vapor, which absorb
strongly over a broader wavelength band. Clouds are by far the most important absorbers of
radiation at essentially all wavelengths. In sunlight clouds reflect a high percentage of the
incident solar radiation and account for most of the brightness of Earth as seen from space.
There are regions, such as areas of clear skies, where carbon dioxide and water vapor are
at a minimum and so is absorption. These areas are called atmospheric windows and allow
insolation to pass through the atmosphere relatively unimpeded. Greenhouse Effect The
atmosphere conserves the heat energy of Earth because it absorbs radiation selectively. Most of
the solar radiation in clear skies is transmitted to Earth’s surface, but a large part of the
outgoing terrestrial radiation is absorbed and reradiated back to the surface. This is called the
greenhouse effect. A greenhouse permits most of the short-wave solar radiation to pass through
the glass roof and sides, and to be absorbed by the floor, ground or plants inside. These
objects reradiate energy at their temperatures of about 300°K, which is a higher temperature than
the energy that was initially received. The glass absorbs the energy at these wavelengths and
sends part of it back into the greenhouse, causing the inside of the structure to
become warmer than the outside. The atmosphere acts similarly, transmitting and absorbing in
somewhat the same way as the glass. If the greenhouse effect did not exist, Earth’s temperature
would be 35°C cooler than the 15°C average temperature we now enjoy, because the
insolation would be reradiated back to space. Of course, the atmosphere is not a contained space
like a greenhouse because there are heat transport mechanisms such as winds,
vertical currents, and mixing with surrounding and adjacent cooler air.
Terrestrial (Earth) Radiation
This is the radiation emitted by Earth; it is almost entirely long-wave radiation, most of which is
absorbed by the water vapor in the atmosphere and some by other gases (about 8 percent
is radiated directly to outer space).
This radiant energy is reradiated in the atmosphere horizontally and vertically. Horizontal flux
(flow or transport) of energy need not be considered due to a lack of horizontal temperature
differences. The vertical, upward or downward, flux is of extreme significance.
Convection and turbulence carry aloft some of this radiation. Water vapor, undergoing the
condensation-precipitation-evaporation cycle (hydrological cycle), carries the remainder into the
atmosphere.

Atmospheric Radiation
The atmosphere reradiates to outer space most of the terrestrial radiation (about 43 percent) and
insolation (about 13 percent) that it has absorbed. Some of this reradiation is emitted earthward
and is known as counter radiation. This radiation is of great importance in the greenhouse effect.
Heat Balance and Transfer in the Atmosphere Earth does not receive equal radiation at all
points. The east-west rotation of Earth provides equal exposure to sunlight but latitude and
dispersion do affect the amount of incident radiation received. The poles receive far less incident
radiation than the equator. This uneven heating is called differential insolation.

RADIATION (HEAT) BALANCE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

The Sun radiates energy to Earth, Earth radiates energy back to space, and the
atmosphere radiates energy also. As is shown the diagram below, a balance is maintained
between incoming and outgoing radiation. It also explains the various radiation processes
involved in maintaining this critical balance and the effects produced in the atmosphere. We
have learned that an object reradiates energy at a higher temperature. Therefore, the more the
Sun heats Earth, the greater the amount of heat energy Earth reradiates. If this rate of heat
loss/gain did not balance, Earth would become continuously colder or warmer.

Radiation Balance
Radiation balance or net radiation is the difference between the absorbed solar radiation by a
surface and the effective outgoing radiation from the surface. On the average, the earth’s surface
absorbs about 124 kilolangleys of solar radiation each year and in turn effectively radiates
kilolangley yr-1. This leaves the earth’s surface with a balance of 72 kilolangleys yr -1usually
designated by Rn and known as radiation balance. It is symbolically given as:
Rn = (Q+q) (1-σ) – I
Where (Q+q) (1- σ) is the absorbed solar radiation, Q and q are direct and diffuse solar radiation
respectively, σ is the albedo and I is the effective outgoing radiation. Similarly, radiation balance
of the atmosphere (Rg) is defined. The atmosphere absorbs 45 kilolangleys of solar energy per
year and radiates 117 kilolangleys yr-1. Thus the atmosphere looses as much radiation in a year
as the earth’s surface gains. The balance of the whole system, surface (Rn) and the atmosphere
(Rg) is therefore zero. Although the global radiation balance is zero averaged over the year, it
will not generally equal zero either seasonally or annually in any given latitude.