Heat Balance of Bare Ground

Abstract

The basic component in the system we are considering is bare ground. In the daytime, its surface is heated by solar radiation when the weather is fine. The surface also loses heat to the cold sky by long-wave radiation. It can be visualized that heat is transferred by conduction to the lower soil layer, neglecting water movement in the soil. At the surface, not only sensible but also latent heat transfer occurs. These heat flows from the surface to the ambient air are by convection. Therefore, three types of heat transfer are at work in a soil-air system, as shown in Fig. 4.1.