Abstract
While the temperature profile of the upper atmosphere was assumed to be known in the previous chapter, its formation will be explained in the following. This requires that we understand the properties of the solar radiation, the primary source of energy for the upper atmosphere, and its absorption by atmospheric gases. The resulting heat input profile and a simple heat balance equation then allows us to understand the observed temperature variations. The spatial and temporal dependence of the solar irradiation leads to temperature, density and pressure differences that stimulate thermospheric winds. To calculate these, we introduce the momentum balance equation, which also serves to derive the fundamental characteristics of atmospheric waves.
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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Prölss, G.W. (2004). Absorption and Dissipation of Solar Radiation Energy. In: Physics of the Earth’s Space Environment. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-97123-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-97123-5_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-05979-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-97123-5
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