Return to Meteorology IndexSolar Radiation
and The Atmosphere
The ultimate source of energy of the earth's atmosphere is the sun. The atmosphere receives one hundred percent of the sun's incoming solar radiation that is directed towards the earth. The atmosphere reflects six percent of the energy immediately. The remaining ninety-four percent enters the atmosphere, of that percent, twenty percent is reflected by the clouds, nineteen percent is absorbed by the clouds and the atmosphere, four percent is reflected by the surface of the earth and the remaining fifty-one percent is absorbed by the earth's surface.
The amount of solar radiation that is absorbed by the ground depends the color and material of the surface. Darker material such as rock, absorbs more incoming solar radiation and emits heat in return to the atmosphere. Lighter materials such as ice and snow reflect the majority of incoming solar radiation and emit little or no heat to the atmosphere. Since the earth's surface varies in color and material, the surface of the earth heats unevenly. This uneven heating creates different areas of convection, which in turn creates different climatic conditions and weather.
Convection results when the heating of the earth's surfaces warns the air next to it. The warming air expands and rises till reaches a high altitude and cools and condensates and falls. This cycling of the air is called a convection cell. Convection Cells are essential in creating winds and different types of weather. Convection Cells help the atmosphere circulate heat, which in turn help create air masses, fronts and pressure cells which form the foundations of weather on earth.