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Weather: Pressure Radiation Temperature Wind Clouds Precipitation Thunderstorm Supercells

Solar radiation


Solar radiation is the fuel which moves the weather. Almost all energy which moves the atmosphere comes from the sun.

The amount of sunlight and radiation reaching the earth is different, depending on latitude (North /South), the seasons  and the daylength.

Sonnenstrahlung-Temperatur
Animation - Click to enlarge and play

The sun does not shine in the same way everywhere on earth: Because of the inclination of the earth axis to the sun, the position of the sun changes in the course of the year.

The sun radiation at ground level changes very strongly between
  1. Day (high) and night (none);
  2. Clear sky (high) and cloudy (low);
  3. Summer (high) and winter (low);
  4. Equator (high) and poles (low);



On the right handside, you see two meteogramm "AIR" ( which shows ground + air layers) of Manaus (Brazil) and Oslo (Norway) for comparison. The meteogramms show the forecasts of the 12.Aug.2010. You can see the radiation in the lowest chart as a yellow curve. The maximum values of the radiation differentiate heavily. With higher solar altitude (Manaus), the radiation is higher as with a lower angle of insolation (Oslo). 

Strahlungsvergleich
Strahlungsvergleich

ch BS Basel 090207z19 meteogram AIR01 06d DE
Meteograms with radiation curve (yellow, bottom)

ch ZH Zürich 100607o12 meteogram AIR-06d
Meteograms with radiation curve (yellow, bottom)

in JA Djakarta 100709z11 meteogram AIR 06d
Meteograms with radiation curve (yellow, bottom)


Look at the meteograms, and note, how the (yellow) curve of the radiation changes:
  • Day and night;
  • without and with clouds
  • in the summer and in the winter
  • in Switzerland (Basel, Zurich) and in the Tropics (Djakarta).

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