What causes solar radiation to decrease and what happens to solar radiation when it reaches the lower levels of the atmosphere?

Solar radiation, the energy emitted by the sun, can decrease due to several factors. These factors can be categorized into two main groups:

Natural Causes:

Sunspot activity: The sun's surface experiences periods of high and low sunspot activity. Sunspots are regions of intense magnetic activity that appear as dark spots on the sun's surface. When sunspot activity is low, the sun emits slightly less radiation.

Earth's orbital tilt: The Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbit around the sun. This tilt causes the amount of solar radiation reaching different parts of the Earth to vary throughout the year. For instance, during the winter solstice, the hemisphere facing away from the sun receives less solar radiation, leading to colder temperatures.

Atmospheric absorption and scattering: As solar radiation passes through the Earth's atmosphere, it interacts with various molecules and particles. These interactions can absorb or scatter some of the radiation, reducing the amount that reaches the Earth's surface. Cloud cover, aerosols, and greenhouse gases are all examples of atmospheric components that can affect solar radiation.

Anthropogenic Causes:

Aerosols: Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and industrial processes, release aerosols into the atmosphere. Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air, and they can scatter and absorb solar radiation, reducing its intensity at the Earth's surface.

Volcanic eruptions: Large volcanic eruptions can inject significant amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere, the upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere. These aerosols can spread globally and persist for several years, causing a temporary decrease in solar radiation.

When solar radiation reaches the lower levels of the atmosphere, several things happen:

Reflection: A portion of the solar radiation is reflected back into space by clouds, ice, and other reflective surfaces. This reflection reduces the amount of radiation that is absorbed by the Earth system.

Absorption: The remaining solar radiation is absorbed by various components of the Earth system, including the atmosphere, oceans, land, and living organisms. This absorption converts solar energy into heat, which drives the Earth's climate system.

Scattering: Some of the solar radiation that interacts with atmospheric molecules and particles is scattered in different directions. This scattering gives the sky its blue color and allows sunlight to reach areas that are not directly exposed to the sun.

Emission: The Earth and its components also emit longwave infrared radiation, which is a type of energy that is less energetic than solar radiation. This emitted radiation contributes to the Earth's overall energy balance.

The interactions between solar radiation and the Earth system play a crucial role in regulating the planet's climate. Understanding these interactions is essential for predicting future climate change and developing strategies to mitigate its impacts.

Rk Naresh

The Sun emits energy in the form of short-wave radiation, which is weakened in the atmosphere by the presence of clouds and absorbed by gas molecules or suspended particles. After passing through the atmosphere, solar radiation reaches the oceanic and continental land surface and is reflected or absorbed. The stratospheric ozone layer acts as a very efficient natural filter for UV-B radiation. It is in fact the most important factor in reducing dangerous amounts of solar UV-B radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Cloud coverage and air pollution can also reduce the amount of radiation that reaches Earth's surface. Clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere can scatter and absorb all radiation bands. As cloud cover increases, the angle of the sun becomes less important when measuring irradiance. The increase in the cloud cover rate causes the decrease in solar constant value and solar radiation on the earth's surface. Solar constant plays an important role in the planning and technical analysis of equipment utilizing solar energy.Snow and ice, airborne particles, and certain gases have high albedos and reflect different amounts of sunlight back into space. Low, thick clouds are reflective and can block sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface, while high, thin clouds can contribute to the greenhouse effect. Solar radiation storms occur when a large-scale magnetic eruption, often causing a coronal mass ejection and associated solar flare, accelerates charged particles in the solar atmosphere to very high velocities. The most important particles are protons which can get accelerated to large fractions of the speed of light. The amount of solar radiation intercepted by the earth is called extraterrestrial radiation. As it makes its way towards the ground, it is depleted when passing through the atmosphere. On average, less than half of extraterrestrial radiation reaches ground level. The Earth absorbs most of the energy reaching its surface, a small fraction is reflected. 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. Some of this incoming radiation is reflected off clouds, some is absorbed by the atmosphere, and some passes through to the Earth's surface. Larger aerosol particles in the atmosphere interact with and absorb some of the radiation, causing the atmosphere to warm.

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