Nancy A. Ritchey

A Climatology of Surface Radiation Budget Derived from Satellite Data

Abstract Climatological averages of surface radiation budget parameters, namely, the shortwave and longwave surface radiative fluxes, have been derived for each month of the year on a global scale. These climatological averages were derived from an 8-yr (96 month) time series of monthly average fluxes. The monthly averages were computed using fast radiation parameterizations and satellite data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project and the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. Results are presented as time series of hemispheric and global averages and as geographical distributions and time–latitude cross sections of climatological averages. The spatial/temporal variabilities of the results were found to be clearly related to the corresponding variabilities of meteorological and other inputs to the parameterizations. Numerous comparisons of the present results were made with available surface measurements for the purpose of validation. In most cases, the differences were found to be within...

Seasonal variation of surface radiation budget derived from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project C1 data

Surface radiation budget data are presented for the midseasonal months of July and October of 1983 and January and April of 1984. These data allow examination for the first time of geographical and seasonal variations of the entire surface radiation budget from pole to pole. The latest flux estimation techniques have been used along with data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Regional, zonal, and hemispheric distributions of the downward and net components of both shortwave and longwave fluxes and of the net total surface fluxes are determined. Seasonal flux variation per region, expressed as flux range, is illustrated for these components also. The estimated fluxes appear to be accurate to about 16 W m−2 on a global average, based on sensitivity analyses and comparisons with ground data. An analysis of flux errors showed that most of the error was attributable to errors in input data.

New data set on surface radiation budget available on‐line

A new long-term global data set of monthly average surface shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) fluxes extending from July 1983 to June 1991 is now available. It is the product of computationally fast radiative transfer algorithms that compute global surface radiative fluxes using satellite data. The data set can be used in the development of general circulation models and in climate studies, including those that examine surface processes and interannual climate anomalies such as El Nino/Southern Oscillation and regional floods and droughts.

World Wide Web Access to Radiation Datasets for Environmental and Climate Change Studies

Five years of scanner data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), eight years of surface radiation budget (SRB) data, and one year of scanner radiation budget data from the French-Russian-German experiment, ScaRaB, will be available for use by colleges and universities [and primary and secondary (K-12) schools] over a World Wide Web browser. The database for ERBE is a 5-yr monthly average time series from February 1985 through December 1989, and ScaRaB is a 1-yr dataset from February 1994 to March 1995. ERBE and ScaRaB include shortwave radiative fluxes, emitted longwave radiative fluxes, and the earths albedo measured at the top of the atmosphere. The SRB dataset spans the period from July 1983 through June 1991 and includes surface downward shortwave fluxes, surface downward longwave fluxes, surface albedos, and cloud percent. Students will have access to the data in three ways. They can display general image format images of any month and visually observe month-to-month or interannual variations. The data files for each month also have a spreadsheet format and can be downloaded in their entirety into any spreadsheet application program for further analysis. Third, using a live access server (LAS), students can interact directly with the data to select and subset datasets in terms of month, year, latitude, and longitude. The LAS allows students to view images of subsetted regions, and to subset data values to a file for further analysis. The server for this dataset is located at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia.

Surface radiation budget: current perspective

The surface radiation budget of the Earth is important in climate research because it gives an understanding of the distribution of solar and IR radiation exchanges at the surface. Data on the distribution and exchange of these surface radiations are needed over the entire Earth on a long-term basis. Global satellite data coupled with highly developed models now provide estimates of the surface radiation budget which are near the accuracy required for climate research. A description of surface radiation research its current state and planned programs are presented. 1.