After insolation, the surface heats the atmosphere from the ground to the top through the following processes: conduction, convection and advection.

• Conduction is the transfer of heat between substances that are in direct contact with each other. In the atmosphere, the Earth's surface and the air immediately above it are in contact. During the day, heat is transferred from the warmer ground to the air by conduction. At night, the surface cools faster than the air, causing the air immediately above it to cool by conduction as heat is transferred to the colder ground. The effect of this surface heating or cooling may extend into the lower atmosphere, although conduction becomes increasingly ineffective with height.
   
• Thermal energy is transferred from hot places to cold places by convection. Convection occurs when warmer areas of a liquid or gas rise to cooler areas in the liquid or gas. Cooler liquid or gas then takes the place of the warmer areas which have risen higher. This results in a continuous circulation pattern.
   
• Advection can be considered the horizontal motion of air. More precisely, it is an exchange by the motion of a mass by which air is displaced. Physical quantities characterizing it such as heat are also displaced with the air.

Note: The wording of this question is somewhat imprecise. Strictly speaking, conduction transfers heat between the Earth's surface and the air immediately in contact with it. Because air has very low thermal conductivity, conduction is not an effective mechanism for transferring heat vertically to medium or high levels; further vertical heat transfer is mainly achieved by convection and turbulent mixing. However, the correct answer to this question has been confirmed by multiple exam feedbacks and has therefore been retained as reported.