Abstract
Absorption of solar radiation by water vapour in the atmosphere has been studied using vaiues of absorption coefficient which were mainly computed by us, and were in part supplemented with values measured by Hettner and Fowle in the regions of weak bands and of weak edges of strong bands. First, for the stratosphere and troposphere the formulae for absorption per unit volume at any height with any zenith distance of the sun were obtained individually. Assuming appropriate values for water vapour contents in the stratosphere and troposphere, values of absorption per unit volume were computed from the formulae for the stratosphere and troposphere. Then the total absorption of the air column along the solar ray from the top of the atmosphere to any height was obtained. The results were compared with the observations. The calculated values of the total absorption are slightly smaller than the observed values of Fowle, but they are nearly in agreement with those of Kimball and Hoelper. Finally a chart is shown by which we can know the total absorption of the air column, its base being at any height and its axis along the solar ray and the rate of temperature rise of the air column.
