Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026

06:27
Measurement of Aerosols Optical Thickness of the Atmosphere using the GLOBE Handheld Sun Photometer
Published on: May 29, 2019
Atmospheric turbidity and the circumsolar radiation
Applied Optics
|February 20, 2010
Abstract:
We investigate the possibility of determining the turbidity from the intensity of the circumsolar radiation and find that such a connection can be made only when the size distribution of the aerosol particles is known. However, measurements of both the turbidity and the aureole intensity can give useful information about the size distribution.
Related Concept Videos
Radiation: Applications
The average temperature of Earth is the subject of much current discussion. Earth is in radiative contact with both the Sun and dark space; it receives almost all its energy from the radiation of the Sun and reflects some of it into outer space. Dark space is very cold, about 3 K, so Earth radiates energy into it. For instance, heat transfer occurs from soil and grasses, the rate of which can be so rapid that frost can occur on clear summer evenings, even in warm latitudes.
The average...
The average...
What is Climate?
Climate refers to the prevailing weather conditions in a specific area over an extended period. As the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” Climate is influenced by geographic factors, such as latitude, terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.
Absorption of Radiation
The rate of heat transfer by emitted radiation is described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law of radiation:
Radiation Pressure: Problem Solving
The radiation pressure applied by an electromagnetic wave on a perfectly absorbing surface equals the energy density of the wave. The wave's momentum also gets transferred to the surface when an electromagnetic wave is entirely absorbed by it. The rate at which momentum is transmitted to an absorbing surface perpendicular to the propagation direction equals the force on the surface.
The average value of the rate of momentum transfer divided by the absorbing area represents the average force per...
The average value of the rate of momentum transfer divided by the absorbing area represents the average force per...
Momentum And Radiation Pressure
An object absorbing an electromagnetic wave would experience a force in the direction of propagation of the wave. This force occurs because electromagnetic waves contain and transport momentum. The force accounts for the wave's radiation pressure exerted on the object. Maxwell's prediction was confirmed in 1903 by Nichols and Hull by precisely measuring radiation pressures with a torsion balance. The measuring instrument had mirrors suspended from a fiber kept inside a glass container. Nichols...
What is Weather?
Overview

