Solar and Infrared Radiation Measurements

1 Measuring Solar and Infrared Radiation

If the observation of the amount of heat the sun sends the earth is among the most important and difficult in astronomical physics, it may also be termed the fundamental problem of meteorology, nearly all whose phenomena would become predictable, if we knew both the original quantity and kind of this heat.

Samuel Pierpont Langley

(1834–1906)

Solar radiation measurements are the basis for understanding Earth’s primary energy source. Humans have studied the sun and applied their understanding to improve their lives since the dawn of history. Buildings have been designed to take advantage of solar radiation for daylighting and heating since the time of Greek city states, if not earlier. Today, solar-generating ...