Int. J. Biometeor. 1970, vol. 14, number 1, pp. 13-43 13 The Energy Budget of Man at High Altitudes by W.H. Terjung* Evidence exists that the greatest solar radiation intensities on this planet occur at high mountain ranges in the arid regions of the lower middle latitudes during summer. Here, the environment experiences one of the most intense short and longwave energy fluctuations and conversions in the world. Unfortunately, high mountain areas are also one of the regions of the earth for which very few obser- vations exist in energy balance climatology. It appears that the arid southwestern United States is one such an anomalous heat center (Bennett, 1965; Landsberg, 1961; Terjung, 1968; Terjung et al. ,1969a, b). In July 1968 an expedition was organized by the Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, to observe, radiation, meteorological, and biometeorological parameters in the White Mountains of California (14 to 19 July). These mountains are a high desert range which parallel the Sierra Nevada from about 37ON to 38°N (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. Location map. Numbers indicate location of observation sites; contourlines are in feet. *) Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA. Received 20 November 1969