Search

Features of the change in the specific irradiation energy and irradiation intensity in the latitudinal zones of the Earth during the phase of decreasing axial tilt (in the interval from 3000 BC to 2999 AD) have been determined. Variations in the annual specific irradiation energy and irradiation intensity are similar in character, which reflects the increase in latitudinal contrast in the annual irradiation of the Earth. The specific irradiation energy decreases in the summer half-years and increases in the winter half-years (seasonal differences are smoothed out). The irradiation intensity exhibits a more complex pattern, in which seasonal differences in the Northern Hemisphere are smoothed out more noticeably than in the Southern Hemisphere. In the phase of decreasing angle of inclination, the area of the regions located beyond the polar circles decreases by approximately 25.93%, the regions between the tropics and the polar circles increases by 12.87%, and the regions between the tropics and the equator decreases by 9.80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of high-precision astronomical ephemeris with a high spatial and temporal resolution, the insolation of the Earth at the upper boundary of the atmosphere was calculated for the period from 3000 BC to 2999 AD. The differences from the earlier calculations of insolation are associated with the initial astronomical data and new calculation algorithms. In our calculations of insolation, the time interval of 5999 years and the entire surface of the Earth have been covered in detail. The Earth is not identified with a sphere, but is approximated by an ellipsoid. Previously, calculations of high-frequency variations in insolation were performed for individual parallels (in space), and in time for four or five separate points of the year (equinoxes, solstices and, sometimes, points with a geocentric longitude of 120 degrees). We have calculated insolation for the surface of latitudinal zones at 1° latitude and time intervals equal to 1/360 of the duration of a tropical year (approximately a day). Correlation analysis of the total mass balance of alpine glaciers (for the period from the balance years 1948/1949 to 2009/2010) with summer and winter insolation and summer, winter and annual insolation contrast of the northern hemisphere, which in a summarized forms (by regions of heat source and sink) reflects long-term changes in the meridional insolation gradient. It has been determined that the long-term variability in the total mass balance of alpine glaciers on average (for glaciers covered by balance observations) is accounted for by the trend at 94.3%. The trend to a reduction of alpine glaciers by an average of 90.6% is determined by the annual insolation contrast, which reflects an increase in the meridional heat transfer, as determined by an increase in the meridional contrast of radiant energy (on the Earth's surface, excluding the atmosphere). Based on the close correlations determined by using a regression model, a forecast of the total mass balance of glaciers up to 2050 AD was made, which indicates a catastrophic development of the degradation of the modern glaciation of the Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite-based measurements of the total flow of incoming solar radiation arriving at the Earth (total solar irradiance (TSI)) have been carried out since 1977. By now, a continuous series of variations of the TSI is obtained. The 11-year cycle and its amplitude in multiyear variations of solar radiation are revealed. However, two mechanisms having different physical nature are defined in regulation of the incoming solar radiation to the Earth (with the atmosphere not accounted for), and in its distribution over the Earth surface (solar climate of the Earth). One mechanism is related to the variation in solar activity. Another mechanism is defined by celestial-mechanical processes, which alter the orbit elements of the Earth (Earth–Sun distance, duration of the tropical year, etc.), the Earth rotation axis tilt, and the relevant variations in the Earth's insolation. The performed calculations of the insolation related to the celestial-mechanical processes were used as a basis for differentiating the satellite observational data on the changes of the TSI with respect to the mechanisms of different physical nature. It was made possible to estimate the contributions of the variation in solar activity and of the celestial-mechanical processes to the total incoming solar radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the previously calculated insolation of the Earth, we determine the variations in solar radiation arriving at the top of the atmosphere, which are mainly connected with changes in the inclination of Earth's rotation axis due to precession and nutation. The amplitudes of semiannual and hemispheric variations in solar radiation arriving at the top of the atmosphere were calculated. The results can be used in precise calculations of the radiative balance of Earth and its surface and atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]