Chaotic fluctuation of temperature on environmental interface exchanging energy by visible and infrared radiation, convection and conduction

Abstract

The concept of environmental interface is defined and analyzed from the point of view of the possible source of non-standard behaviour. The energy balance equation is written for the interface where all kinds of energy transfer occur. It is shown that under certain conditions, the discrete version of the equation for the temperature time rate turns in to the well-known logistic equation and the conditions for chaotic behaviour are studied. They are determined by the Lyapunov exponent. The realistic situation when the coefficients of the equation vary with time, is studied for the Earth-environment general system.