Figure 2.32

Energy budget of a rock. The temperature of a rock or Earth’s surface is a result of the balance between incoming energy and outgoing energy. (A) During the day, sunlight warms the rock. Incoming shortwave radiation is greater than outgoing longwave radiation, so the rock’s temperature (T) increases. (B) At night there is no incoming SWR, but LWR continues to radiate from the rock, causing its temperature to decrease.