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NASA has good description of the energy budget.
Notes on the global energy budget are here: PART I, PART II
Energy emission to space. The annual average infrared emission from Earth, also known as the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), shows large variations in the tropics. Over Indonesia, persistent high clouds with cold tops result in a mean OLR of less than 200 W m-2. In some subtropical regions, the OLR is nearly 300 W m-2 because downward motion in the atmosphere suppresses cloudiness and water vapor, thus allowing the emission from the warm surface to escape to space. The Intertropical Convergence Zone is marked by the line of reduced OLR north of the equator in the eastern Pacific. This figure was created with data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment for 1986-87.
SELF-TESTS
1. You can answer the "Concept Quizzes 3, 4 and 5" questions for Chapter Two from the web site of our text's publisher. (Select these quizzes from the left margin.). You should complete this by 5pm Friday 29 September. If you complete these tests throughout the semester I will give 2% credit.
2. Other self-test materials can be found HERE.
ABSORBED SOLAR ENERGY
LONGWAVE EMISISONS TO SPACE
NET RADIATION (GAINS - LOSSES)
SURFACE TEMPERATURES
