Radiative equilibrium

Radiative equilibrium is a state in which a system’s absorbed and emitted radiation balance. It can describe a body or an entire atmosphere, with the balance defined over the system and timescale being considered.

Radiative energy balance: An accounting of energy gained and lost through radiation by a body or system. Radiative equilibrium is the steady condition in which this accounting has no net radiative gain or loss.
Effective temperature: The temperature of an ideal blackbody that emits the same total power per unit area as a real object. It summarizes the emission required to balance a body's absorbed energy.
Thermodynamic equilibrium: A state in which a system's macroscopic properties do not change and no net thermodynamic driving forces remain. Radiative equilibrium balances radiation alone and need not imply full thermodynamic equilibrium.
Radiative forcing: A change in Earth's energy balance caused by an external influence, commonly quantified in watts per square meter. Forcing shifts the balance and prompts a response toward a new climate state.
Stefan–Boltzmann law: A law stating that a blackbody’s emitted radiant energy per unit area rises with the fourth power of its absolute temperature. It relates a body’s temperature to its thermal emission in a simple equilibrium calculation.
Planetary equilibrium temperature: The idealized temperature of a planet obtained by balancing absorbed sunlight against emitted thermal radiation. It applies radiative equilibrium to a planet while simplifying or omitting atmospheric effects.
Radiative equilibrium temperature: The temperature predicted when radiative gains and losses alone determine a body's energy balance. This idealized temperature can differ from actual temperatures when additional energy transport matters.
Greenhouse effect: The warming of a planet's surface and lower atmosphere caused by atmospheric absorption and re-emission of thermal radiation. Atmospheric absorption makes the location and level of radiative balance consequential.
Planck's law: A law describing the spectral distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a blackbody at a given temperature. It specifies how equilibrium emission is distributed across wavelengths.
Earth's energy budget: The accounting of energy Earth receives, reflects, absorbs, and emits, chiefly through radiation. Its global mean balance is a planetary example of radiative equilibrium.

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