The relative effect of solar altitude on surface temperatures and energy budget components on two contrasting landscapes

A solar radiation attenuation model has been combined with a steady-state surface energy budget model. The combined model was programmed to investigate the resultant surface temperatures and associated, causal energy budget components to changes in solar altitudes and air temperatures. Two contrasting landscape scenarios were investigated: a barren and a grassy plain, under cloudless skies. Solutions to these many computations are presented in graphical form in order to gain an improved perspective of the varied responses of changing surface temperatures and energy budgets as complex functions of different solar angles and air temperature regimes. The grassy landscape was much more conservative in its reaction to the forcing by these two environmental parameters. It is believed that the portrayed trends encompass the possible extremes encountered in a continuum of landscapes in the real world.Dr. O'Rourke is currently a Post-Doctoral Scholar at UCLA.