The upward arrows at the surface are reflected short-wave flux , emitted long-wave flux from the Stefan–Boltzmann law, and, when positive, conductive heat arriving from the planetary ice shell. The downward arrow is the incident solar flux . The planetary surface energy balance is therefore
The relevant planetary albedo is the Bond albedo. In a steady one-dimensional shell, Fourier's law and make the upward conductive flux
where points downward and . Substitution gives the requested implicit equation
Planetary surface energy balance Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
A steady planetary surface energy balance equates absorbed incoming radiation plus upward internal heat flux with outgoing thermal radiation. For local incident stellar radiative flux , surface albedo , upward conductive heat flux and thermal emissivity ,
The reflected part has already been subtracted. Equivalently, incident plus internal inputs equal reflected plus emitted outputs: . Including reflected radiation again alongside an already absorbed input would count it twice. This simple surface equation omits downward atmospheric long-wave radiation and turbulent or latent heat fluxes; those require additional terms when present.
For an airless spherical planet with uniform temperature, intercepted stellar power is , while the emitting area is . A whole-planet balance therefore uses mean incident flux and Bond albedo :
when internal heating is negligible. The factor four comes from geometry, not an extra loss mechanism. A nonuniform temperature field requires averaging , rather than raising the mean temperature to the fourth power. In a planetary ice shell, a nonzero basal conductive contribution can keep the surface warmer than stellar heating alone predicts.