Effect Of Sun Angle On Climate

The amount of heat energy received at any location on the globe is a direct effect of Sun angle on climate, as the angle at which sunlight strikes Earth varies by location, time of day, and season due to Earth's orbit around the Sun and Earth's rotation around its tilted axis. Seasonal change in the angle of sunlight, caused by the tilt of Earth's axis, is the basic mechanism that results in warmer weather in summer than in winter.Windows to the Universe
Earth's Tilt Is the Reason for the Seasons!
Retrieved on 2008-06-28. Change in day length is another factor (albeit lesser).

Geometry of Sun angle

Figure 1 presents a case when sunlight shines on Earth at a lower angle (Sun closer to the horizon), the energy of the sunlight is spread over a larger area, and is therefore weaker than if the Sun is higher overhead and the energy is concentrated on a smaller area.

Figure 2 depicts a sunbeam wide falling on the ground from directly overhead, and another hitting the ground at a 30° angle. Trigonometry tells us that the sine of a 30° angle is 1/2, whereas the sine of a 90° angle is 1. Therefore, the sunbeam hitting the ground at a 30° angle spreads the same amount of light over twice as much area (if we imagine the Sun shining from the south at noon, the north–south width doubles; the east–west width does not). Consequently, the amount of light falling on each square mile is only half as much.

Figure 3 shows the angle of sunlight striking Earth in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres when Earth's northern axis is tilted away from the Sun, when it is winter in the north and summer in the south.

Obliquity, seasonality, and climate

Differing sun angle results in differing temperatures between lower and higher latitudes, and between winter and summer at the same latitude (although "winter" and "summer" are more complicated in the tropics. Note: See Axial tilt. Zero obliquity results in minimum (zero) continuous insolation at the poles and maximum continuous insolation at the equator. Any increase of obliquity (to 90 degrees) causes seasonal increase of insolation at the poles and causes decrease of insolation at the equator on any day of the year except an equinox.

At fixed latitude, the size of the seasonal difference in sun angle (and thus the seasonal temperature variation) is equal to double the Earth's axial tilt. For example, with an axial tilt is 23°, and at a latitude of 45°, then the summer's peak sun angle is 68° (giving sin(68°) = 93% insolation at the surface), while winter's least sun angle is 22° (giving sin(22°) = 37% insolation at the surface). Thus, the greater the axial tilt, the stronger the seasons' variations at a given latitude.

In addition to seasonal variation at fixed latitude, the total annual surface) insolation as a ''function'' of latitude also depends on the axial tilt. At the equator (0° latitude), on the equinoxes, the sun angle is always 90° no matter the axial tilt, while on the solstices the minimum sun angle is equal to 90° minus the tilt. Therefore, greater tilt means a lower minimum for the same maximum: less total annual surface insolation at the equator. At the poles (90° latitude), on the equinoxes and during polar night, the sun angle is always 0° or less no matter the axial tilt, while on the summer solstice, the maximum angle is equal to the tilt. Therefore, greater tilt means a higher maximum for the same minimum: more total annual surface insolation at the poles. Therefore, lesser tilt means a wider annual temperature gap between equator and poles, while greater tilt means a smaller annual temperature gap between equator and poles. (At an extreme tilt, such as that of Uranus, the poles can receive similar annual surface insolation to the equator.) In particular, at Earth temperatures, and all else being equal, greater tilt warms the poles and thus reduces polar ice coverage, while lesser tilt cools the poles and thus increases polar ice coverage.

One of the first to publish on these effects was Milutin Milanković; the cyclic effects of axial tilt, eccentricity, and other orbital parameters upon global climate were named Milanković cycles. Although individual mechanisms (such as axial tilt and sun angle) are thought to be understood, the overall impact of orbital forcing on global climate remains poorly constrained.

See also

* Sun path
* Axial tilt
* Solar irradiance (insolation)
* Orbital forcing
* Milanković cycles

Notes

References

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Climate variability and change
Seasons
Atmospheric radiation