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EFFECTS OF ATMOSPHERE#Insolation
□ Scattering◇ Some portion of the incoming electromagnetic solar radiation (23%) is scattered in the atmosphere by
dust particles and
haze.
Six per cent of this scattered energy is sent back to space while
17 per cent reaches the earth's surface. The process of scattering is selective in nature. Scattering becomes possible when the diameter of invisible dust particles suspended in the air and the molecules of the atmospheric gases is shorter than the wave lengths of the solar radiation waves.
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Blue light of the incoming
shorter wavelengths is more scattered than
red light.◇ This is the reason that the sky looks
blue,
Sifferlin, the
picturesque reddish hue of the sky during sunrise (dawn) and sunset (twilight) is the result of scattering of all the colour spectra except the red and orange because at the time of sunrise and sunset the oblique rays have to pass through the longest path of the atmosphere.
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