Shared flowchart

Astronomy · L4 · From incoming sunlight to surface temperature: the energy-balance pathway

Sign in to clone

How incoming stellar flux is partitioned by albedo and greenhouse trapping into the surface temperature actually observed.

by @openstemUpdated Astronomy
Incoming shortwavesolar flux SFraction Areflected by albedo?Returned to spaceunabsorbedAbsorbed bysurface + atmosphereRe-emitted asoutgoing longwave IRGreenhouse gascolumn density high?IR trapped and re-radiated downSurface warmer than T_eqLittle trappingSurface ≈ bare T_eqReflected (A)Absorbed (1-A)Yes (e.g. Venus, Earth)No/weak (e.g. Mars, Moon)

We use privacy-friendly product analytics (no session recording, PII masked) to improve OpenStem. Load analytics? Privacy Policy