Solar radiation

(Sunlight)

By Suray Abdil Hameed

Solar radiation (sunlight)
All the electromagnetic radiation coming from the Sun. Some of the Sun's
radiation passes through the atmosphere and reaches the surface of the
Earth. The amount of solar radiation hitting the Earth is called insolation.
Energy, from the sunlight that reaches Earth, drives the climate and the
ecosystem. Some sunlight is visible to humans as light, but there are also
components of solar radiation that are not visible to the human eye. These
are important too. Infrared sunlight is heat and ultraviolet sunlight is
damaging to living organisms. However, most of the ultraviolet radiation is
blocked by the ozone layer.

Some of the radiation reaching Earth is reflected back into space. This
process is called albedo. Around 30 percent of the sunlight is reflected by
Earth's surface and the atmosphere. The part of the radiation that is not
reflected back into space is absorbed and converted into heat. Some of this
heat escapes and some of it stays around Earth's surface, because of the
greenhouse effect, where greenhouse gases capture the heat and stop it
from escaping the Earth.

The energy that the Earth receives from the Sun is almost constant. There
is a slight variation, which is connected to the amount of sunspots. Some
argue that this and longer term variation in solar radiation play a significant
role in climate change, but this is controversial. While the total insolation on
Earth is relatively constant, the regional distribution of sunlight varies with
the Earth's orbital position in the annual cycle, which is the reason why we
have seasons on Earth.
The sunlight also powers photosynthesis. This is the process by which
plants capture CO2 from the oceans and the atmosphere and convert it to
organic materials.

Absorption
When Solar radiation is transformed into heat in the lower atmosphere and
on the surface. Absorption at the Earth's surface is important for the climate
and temperature. Incoming radiation from the Sun passes through the
atmosphere and is changed from a short wavelength into longer
wavelengths, i.e. heat, when it is absorbed at the surface of the planet. This
then heats the atmosphere from below.

Illustration showing incoming solar radiation and absorption

Absorption at the surface is also important because more than half of the
incoming solar radiation is absorbed there. Less than 20 percent of
incoming radiation is absorbed directly by the atmosphere. The remaining
part is reflected back into space through the albedo effect. Apart from
regulating the temperature in the lower atmosphere, absorption at the
Earth's surface also controls the temperature of the crust and the oceans'
surface waters. Changes in the composition of the Earth's surface such as
glaciations and deforestation have an impact on absorption at the Earth's
surface. These changes also affect the Earth's albedo - the opposite of
absorption. Because global warming and human activities change the
relation between albedo (diffuse reflection) and absorption there is a
potential for positive feedback and further warming. Most of the direct
absorption in the atmosphere of incoming sunlight is by water vapor. It is
estimated that about 70 percent of atmospheric absorption is by water
vapor.

In the atmosphere water vapor also absorbs 60 percent of the thermal

radiation that is re-emitted from the surface of the planet. The absorption of
thermal radiation is also known as the greenhouse effect. Absorption,
furthermore, takes place during photosynthesis in plants and algae, but
here some of the energy from the sunlight is converted into chemical
energy instead of heat.

Atmosphere
The layer of gases that surrounds a planet. The gases of the atmosphere
are held in place by the planet's gravity. Close to the surface the
atmosphere is relatively dense. On Earth, three quarters of the
atmosphere's mass is within 11 km of the surface. The atmosphere
becomes less and less dense with the distance from Earth and finally fades
away completely into space. Sometimes, an altitude of 100 km is regarded
as the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. Earth's
atmosphere contains four gases in significant amounts. Nitrogen is by far
the most abundant gas. It comprises 78.08 percent. Oxygen takes up about
20.95 percent of the space in the atmosphere. Argon 0.93 percent. Finally,
carbon dioxide (CO2) comprises about 0.038 percent. Other gases are only
present in the atmosphere in very small amounts. All these gases
combined make up dry air. There is also a significant amount of water
vapor in the atmosphere near the surface of the Earth. Water vapor is the
gas phase of water. It is much less uniformly distributed in the atmosphere
than the four gases mentioned above. The atmosphere of the Earth is
divided into four layers. Closest to the Earth is the troposphere. This layer
stretches from the surface of the planet up to an altitude of around 14 km.
above the troposphere lies the stratosphere. The stratosphere reaches
about 50 km in altitude. The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere. The
mesosphere reaches from the top of the stratosphere up to almost 90 km.
Most meteors heading for Earth burn up in the mesosphere. Further away
there is the thermosphere and finally the exosphere which fades diffusely
into space. The ionosphere stretches the mesosphere and the
thermosphere, but in spite of its name the ionosphere is not really a sphere
or a layer. The structure of the ionosphere is strongly influenced by the
level of Solar activity and the number of sunspots.

These layers together protect life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar

radiation, and by keeping the surface warm while at the same time
reducing temperature extremes between day and night through the
greenhouse effect. There are no physical barriers between the layers. They
can be distinguished by the way temperature relates to increasing altitude
within the layers. When levels of CO 2 rise in the atmosphere due to human
activity the greenhouse effect is enhanced. This leads to global warming.