Hey there, I was just wondering how much of the incoming solar energy is absorbed by our atmosphere, as I know that this is a significant portion. I saw a documentary where some experts on energy conservation were considering the idea of putting a solar power plant into orbit around the Earth, as much more solar energy is available out there. Anyway, this got me thinking and I was going to do a few calculations etc. on the effectiveness of this plan. Thanks for any help.
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Wikipedia says the albedo of the earth is .367 – of all the radiation arriving, 36.7% is reflected away. A less mathematical description can be found looking up albedo.
As Mis37N noted; about 30% of the solar radiation is reflected back out into space. Of the remaining radiation, about 2/3 (ie, about 45% of the total) makes it to the ground. That means that the atmosphere absorbs about 25% of the solar radiation; or about 33% of the radiation that is not reflected back into space.
The absorption is quite specific: the higher levels of the atmosphere absorb all the gamma ray and X ray; and most of the ultraviolet. The lower atmosphere absorbs all of the infrared and microwave radiation. There is a narrow band of visible light that passes straight through; plus the longer wavelength radio waves.
Note that the absorption of the infrared by the lower atmosphere is what causes the greenhouse effect: the visible light passes straight through, but the radiated heat (infrared) is absorbed. This is a good thing, because without the greenhouse effect; life as we know it wouldn’t exist. But you can have too much of a good thing.
If you want further information, have a look at this excellent site:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/earth_atmosph_radiation_budget.html