The numerical investigation method of unsteady transfer processes in evaporating droplets in radiating media is introduced, evaluating the dependence of optical spectral properties of material upon temperature. The distribution of temperature and heat fluxes regularities in heating and simultaneously evaporating water droplets has been investigated. It is shown that as a cause of interaction of radiation and conduction processes, the profile of the temperature field inside the droplet is distorted, and the magnitude and direction of heat conductivity flux vector changes. According to the maximum place in the instant temperature field of the droplet, it is suggested to distinguish three periods of state change for an evaporating droplet: initial, transient and final. The results of the unsteady radiative-conductive heat transfer are generalized by using similarity theory methods. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.