Cloud cover air pollution latitude of a location and the time of the year can all cause variations in solar radiance at the earth s surface.
Solar radiation on earth surface.
Atmospheric conditions can reduce direct beam radiation by 10 on clear dry days and by 100 during thick.
This is called diffuse solar radiation.
The solar constant g sc is a flux density measuring mean solar electromagnetic radiation solar irradiance per unit area.
It is measured on a surface perpendicular to the rays one astronomical unit au from the sun roughly the distance from the sun to the earth.
The sun is generally considered to produce a constant amount of power although there are small variances in the output energy depending on sunspot cycles with a surface intensity of expressed in units of power per unit area as the sun s rays spread into space this radiation becomes less and less intense as an inverse square law.
The solar constant includes all types of solar radiation other than neutrinos not just the visible light.
The total radiation received from the sun of a horizontal surface at the level of the ground for a serene day is the sum of the direct and diffuse radiations.
This intense solar radiation as it is known in physical geography originates in the sun s core and is eventually sent to earth after convection the vertical movement of energy forces it away from the sun s core.
Calculating solar energy to surface energy from sun to earth.
Solar radiation at the earth s surface varies from the solar radiation incident on the earth s atmosphere.
The solar irradiance is measured in watt per square metre w m 2 in si units solar irradiance is often integrated over a given time period in order to report the radiant energy emitted into the surrounding environment.
The sum of the diffuse and direct solar radiation is called global solar radiation.
Solar irradiance is the power per unit area received from the sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation as reported in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument.
It takes approximately eight minutes for solar radiation to reach the earth after leaving the sun s surface.