Re: energy of sun that reaches earth
- From: tadchem <tadchem@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:12:13 -0700 (PDT)
On Aug 11, 4:58 am, viki <viki...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Seeking the numbers for amount of total solar energy/power that
reaches earth,
I found following on internet:
1) 9.4*10^16 watts reaches upper atmosphere
2) 2*10^16 watts reaches surface of earth.
Can anyone confirm or correct these numbers, especially the second
one ?
Thanks
Google "solar constant"
The Wiki article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_radiation#Solar_constant
says
"The solar constant is the amount of the Sun's incoming
electromagnetic radiation (Solar radiation) per unit area, measured on
the outer surface of Earth's atmosphere in a plane perpendicular to
the rays. The solar constant includes all types of solar radiation,
not just the visible light. It is measured by satellite to be roughly
1366 watts per square meter (W/m²),[2] though this fluctuates by about
6.9% during a year (from 1412 W/m² in early January to 1321 W/m² in
early July) due to the earth's varying distance from the Sun, and by a
few parts per thousand from day to day. Thus, for the whole Earth
(which has a cross section of 127,400,000 km²), the power is
1.740×1017 W, plus or minus 3.5%. The Solar constant does not remain
constant over long periods of time (see Solar variation). 1366 W/m² is
equivalent to 1.96 calories per minute per square centimeter, or 1.96
langleys (Ly) per minute."
The amount actually reaching the surface will depend on clouds, smoke/
smog, solar azimuth, etc.
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA
.
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