When we turn our face towards the sun on a day with clear skies: Is the heat we feel on our skin actual heat radiation from the surface of the sun or do we just feel the warmth of the molecules in our atmosphere which have been “warmed” by radiation from the upper atmosphere?

Question

When we turn our face towards the sun on a day with clear skies: Is the heat we feel on our skin actual heat radiation from the surface of the sun or do we just feel the warmth of the molecules in our atmosphere which have been “warmed” by radiation from the upper atmosphere?

In: 1238

Answer 1

You are feeling the thermal radiation from the sun. The air around you is generally wanted by the long wave radiation that has been reflected by the earth’s surface back into the atmosphere. Short wave incoming solar radiation only gets absorbed by the atmosphere at very specific wavelengths, some gets reflected or scattered by clouds, aerosols and water vapour while the rest hits the Earth’s surface (or your face)