UPSC · Prelims and Mains
Indian and World Geography
← ClimatologySolar radiation and the heat budget
- Insolation and its variation: Earth-Sun distance, angle of incidence, day length, transparency, aspect
- Spectrum of insolation: short-wave solar and long-wave terrestrial radiation; infrared absorption by water vapour and carbon dioxide
- Heating of the atmosphere from below: terrestrial radiation, conduction, convection, advection
- Heat budget of the planet, albedo and the balance of radiation
- Greenhouse effect of the atmosphere on the Earth's mean temperature
- Latitudinal surplus and deficit of heat and its transfer by winds and currents
- Atmospheric scattering of sunlight: blue sky, red sunrise and sunset, and wavelength-dependent transmission
