X-Nico

unusual facts about Solar constant


Solar constant

In 1875, Jules Violle resumed the work of Pouillet and offered a somewhat larger estimate of 1.7 kW/m² based, in part, on a celebrated measurement that he made from Mont Blanc in France.


Frederick Atwood Greeley

Frederick Atwood Greeley (26 November 1896, Pelham, New Hampshire - 19 March 1980, Laguna Hills, California) was an American astronomer who worked on the solar constant program of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which had been started by Samuel Pierpont Langley.


see also

Direct insolation

While the solar constant varies with the Earth-Sun distance and solar cycles, the losses depend on the time of day (length of light's path through the atmosphere depending on the Solar elevation angle), cloud cover, moisture content, and other impurities.