Heat Budget of Earth – explained with an example
It is believed that a heat balance exists between the amount of solar radiation received by the earth’s surface and its atmosphere and the amount of heat lost by the outgoing terrestrial longwave radiation from the earth’s surface and the loss of heat from the atmosphere. The state of balance is known as the heat budget of the earth.
35 units of the heat out of the total 100 units coming from the sun has been reflected into space even before reaching the earth’s surface. Out of these 35 units, 6 are reflected and scattered by the upper atmosphere, 27 by the clouds, and 2 mainly the snow-covered surface of the earth. The reflected part of the sun’s radiation is known as the Albedo of the Earth. The remaining 65 units are absorbed by the atmosphere, 14 units of these are absorbed by the atmosphere, and the remaining 51 units by the earth’s surface.
The 51 units absorbed by the earth are again radiated back in the different forms of terrestrial radiation. 17 of these are radiated back directly into the space and the remaining 34 units are absorbed by the atmosphere in the form of convection, turbulence, and latent heat of condensation. Finally, the atmosphere also radiates back 48 units i.e. 14 from solar radiation and 34 from terrestrial radiation back into space.
Hence, the sum total of the heat going out of the earth is 65 units i.e. 17 from the earth’s surface and 48 from the atmosphere. In this way, there is a balance between the incoming 65 units and the outgoing 65 units. This delicate and dynamic balance of heat is termed as Heat Budget of the Earth.
Heat Budget of Earth
Heat Budget of Earth: Heat is a form of energy, received by the earth from the sun. Heat Budget deals with the amount of heat energy received from the sun and its utilization in the atmosphere and the surface of the earth. This explains why the earth neither warms up nor cools down despite the huge transfer of heat that takes place.
Let us learn this in detail!
Table of Content
- Heat Budget of Earth Diagram
- What is Heat Budget of Earth?
- Heat Budget of Earth – explained with an example
- Components of Heat Budget
- Importance of Heat Budget of Earth
- Effects of Heat Budget of Earth
- Variation in the Heat Budget of Earth
- How is the Heat Budget of Earth Analyzed and Calculated?
Contact Us