Solar radiation or heating received at the earth's surface The name is derived from INcoming SOLar radiATION
solar radiation on the surface of the Earth This term has been generally replaced by solar irradiance because of the confusion of the word with insulation
(Contracted from incoming solar radiation) 1 In general, solar radiation received at the earth's surface See terrestrial radiation, extraterrestrial radiation, direct solar radiation, global radiation, effective terrestrial radiation, diffuse sky radiation, atmospheric radiation 2 The rate at which direct solar radiation is incident upon a unit horizontal surface at any point on or above the surface of the earth Compare solar constant
The amount of energy in sunlight reaching an area Usually expressed in watts per square meter (W/m^2), but also expressed on a daily basis as watts per square meter per day (W/m^2/day)