Earth Radiation Budget
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The Earth Radiation Budget (at the top of the atmosphere) describes the overall balance between the incoming energy from the sun and the outgoing thermal (longwave) and reflected (shortwave) energy from the earth. It can only be measured from space. The radiation balance at the top of the atmosphere is the basic radiative forcing of the climate system. Measuring its variability in space and time over the globe provides insight into the overall response of the system to this forcing. |
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| Domain: | Atmosphere | |
| Subdomain: | Upper Atmosphere | |
| Scientific Area: | Energy and Temperature | |
| ECV Steward: | ||
| Products: | Radiation Profile, Downward Short-Wave Irradiance at Top of the Atmosphere, Upward Short-Wave Irradiance at Top of the Atmosphere, Upward Long-Wave Irradiance at Top of the Atmosphere, Solar Spectral Irradiance | |
ECV Products and Requirements
These products and requirements reflect the Implementation Plan 2022 (GCOS-244).
The requirements are found in the complete 2022 ECVs Requirements document as well: ECV Earth Radiation Budget
| Products | Radiation Profile | Downward Short-Wave Irradiance at Top of the Atmosphere | Upward Short-Wave Irradiance at Top of the Atmosphere | Upward Long-Wave Irradiance at Top of the Atmosphere | ||
| (*) | Unit | Values | Values | Values | Values | |
| Horizontal Resolution | G | km | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| B | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | ||
| T | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | ||
| Vertical Resolution | G | km | 1 | - | - | - |
| B | 2 | - | - | - | ||
| T | 4 | - | - | - | ||
| Temporal Resolution | G | h | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| B | 24 | 6 | 24 | 24 | ||
| T | 720 | 24 | 720 | 720 | ||
| Timeliness | G | h | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| B | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | ||
| T | 720 | 720 | 720 | 720 | ||
| Required Measurement Uncertainty (2-sigma) | G | W m-2 | 0.1/0.2 | 0.04 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| B | 0.2/0.4 | 0.08 | 0.5 | 0.5 | ||
| T | 0.4/0.8 | 0.12 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Stability | G | W m-2/decade | 0.025/0.05 | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.05 |
| B | 0.05/0.1 | 0.02 | 0.15 | 0.1 | ||
| T | 0.1/0.2 | 0.04 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Products | Solar Spectral Irradiance | ||
| (*) | Unit | Values | |
| Horizontal Resolution | G | mm | 10 |
| B | 50 | ||
| T | 100 | ||
| Spectral Resolution | G | ||
| B | < 290 nm | 1nm | |
| 290-1000 nm | 2nm | ||
| 1000-1600 nm | 5nm | ||
| 1600-3200 | 10nm | ||
| 3200-6400 | 20nm | ||
| 6400-10020 nm | 40nm | ||
| 10020-160000 nm | 20000nm | ||
| T | |||
| Temporal Resolution | G | h | 3 |
| B | 12 | ||
| T | 24 | ||
| Timeliness | G | h | 1 |
| B | 10 | ||
| T | 90 | ||
| Required Measurement Uncertainty (2-sigma) | G | % | 0.3 |
| B | 1.5 | ||
| T | 3 | ||
| Stability | G | %/ decade | 0.03 |
| B | 0.15 | ||
| T | 0.3 |
(*) Goal (G): an ideal requirement above which further improvements are not necessary. Breakthrough (B): an intermediate level between threshold and goal which, if achieved, would result in a significant improvement for the targeted application. The breakthrough value may also indicate the level at which specified uses within climate monitoring become possible. It may be appropriate to have different breakthrough values for different uses. Threshold (T): the minimum requirement to be met to ensure that data are useful
Data Sources
This list provides sources for openly accessible data sets with worldwide coverage for which metadata is available. It is curated by the respective GCOS ECV Steward(s). The list does not claim to be complete. Anyone with a suitable dataset who wishes it to be added to this list should contact the GCOS Secretariat.
Reanalysis:
- REANALYSES.ORG (Inventory for Reanalysis)
Satellite:
- Satellite ECV Inventory by the CEOS/CGMS Working Group on Climate (WGClimate)
