Studies of surface energy balance of sloping terrain

Measurements of radiation and soil energy balance components were made for a complete solar season on a south and north facing slope on the edge of the Chilterns, England. The contrasts between the two slopes are illustrated on both the diurnal and seasonal time‐scale. It is shown that a consistent relationship exists between daily solar and net radiation totals for the slopes throughout the year but that soil heat flux cannot be modelled easily. Further, it is shown that it is possible to derive a simple model of solar radiation on to a slope from measurements made on the horizontal. Combining these conclusions points the way towards simple routine calculation of slope radiation balances for use in energy and evaporation models over undulating terrain.