The Atmosphere Of The Sun

" ... Concise explanations and descriptions - easily read and readily understood - of what we know of the chain of events and processes that connect the Sun to the Earth, with special emphasis on space weather and Sun-Climate."--Dear Reader.

List of physical constants

Observational data derived from the world's largest solar telescopes are correlated with theoretical discussions in nuclear and atomic physics by contributors representing a wide range of interests in solar research.

The Earth's climate system depends entirely on the Sun for its energy. Solar radiation warms the atmosphere and is fundamental to atmospheric composition, while the distribution of solar heating across the planet produces global wind patterns and contributes to the formation of clouds, storms, and rainfall. The Sun’s Influence on Climate provides an unparalleled introduction to this vitally important relationship. This accessible primer covers the basic properties of the Earth’s climate system, the structure and behavior of the Sun, and the absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere. It explains how solar activity varies and how these variations affect the Earth’s environment, from long-term paleoclimate effects to century timescales in the context of human-induced climate change, and from signals of the 11-year sunspot cycle to the impacts of solar emissions on space weather in our planet’s upper atmosphere. Written by two of the leading authorities on the subject, The Sun’s Influence on Climate is an essential primer for students and nonspecialists alike.

An Introduction to Solar Radiation is an introductory text on solar radiation, with emphasis on the methods of calculation for determining the amount of solar radiation incident on a surface on the earth. Topics covered include the astronomical relationship between the sun and the earth; thermal radiation; the solar constant and its spectral distribution; and extraterrestrial solar irradiation. This book is comprised of 12 chapters and begins with an overview of the trigonometric relationships between the sun-earth line and the position of an inclined surface, followed by a discussion on the characteristics of blackbody radiation. The next chapter focuses on the solar constant and its spectral distribution, paying particular attention to extraterrestrial solar spectral irradiance and the sun's blackbody temperature. Subsequent chapters explore extraterrestrial and radiation incident on inclined planes; the optics of a cloudless-sky atmosphere; solar spectral radiation and total (broadband) radiation under cloudless skies; and solar radiation arriving at horizontal surfaces on the earth through cloudy skies. The ground albedo and its spectral and angular variation are also described, along with insolation on inclined surfaces. The last chapter is devoted to instruments for measuring solar radiation, including pyrheliometers and pyranometers. This monograph will serve as a useful guide for energy analysts, designers of thermal devices, architects and engineers, agronomists, and hydrologists as well as senior graduate students.

The complex internal structure of the Sun can now be studied in detail through helioseismology and neutrino astronomy. The VI Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics was dedicated to examining these powerful new techniques. Based on this meeting, eight specially-written chapters by world-experts are presented in this timely volume. We are shown how the internal composition and dynamical structure of the Sun can be deduced through helioseismology; and how the central temperature can be determined from the flux of solar neutrinos. This volume provides an excellent introduction for graduate students and an up-to-date overview for researchers working on the Sun, neutrino astronomy and helio- and asteroseismology.

An illuminating introduction to solar physics and the evolving nature of the atmosphere of our Sun. "this is a very lucid tour of the solar atmosphere. It is a most welcome guide to the plethora of phenomena to be seen in the Sun. An excellent book, then, offering a perfect introduction to the plasma physics of the solar atmosphere, providing a stimulus to the reader to understand better this mysterious and beautiful plasma we call the Sun." Contemporary Physics

In 1998, my colleague, Forrest Mims, and I began a project to develop inexpensive handheld atmosphere monitoring instruments for the GLOBE Program, an international environmental science and education program that began its operations on Earth Day, 1995. GLOBE’s goal was to involve students, teachers, and scientists around the world in authentic partn- ships in which scientists would develop instrumentation and experimental protocols suitable for student use. In return, data collected by students and their teachers would be used by scientists in their research. This kind of collaboration represented a grand vision for science education which had never before been attempted on such a scale, and we embraced this vision with great enthusiasm. Between 1998 and 2006, Forrest Mims and I collaborated on the development of several instruments based on Mims’ original concept of using light emitting diodes as spectrally selective detectors of sunlight, which was first published in the peer-reviewed literature in 1992. These instruments have evolved into a set of tools and procedures for monitoring the transmission of sunlight through the atmosphere, and they can be used to learn a great deal about the composition of the atmosphere and the dynamics of the Earth/atmosphere/sun system. If measurements with these instruments are made properly, they have significant scientific value, as well.