Surface Radiation Budget Variability at Climatic Time Scales

Abstract:

Information on Earth Radiation Balance is needed at climatic time scales for enabling assessment of variability and trends in the forcing functions of the climate system. Satellite observations have been instrumental for advancing the understanding of such balance at global scale; yet, the length of available records does not meet climatic needs. Major issues hindering such efforts are related to the frequent changes in satellite observing systems, including the specification of the satellite instruments, and changes in the quality of atmospheric inputs that drive the inference schemes. In this paper we report on an effort to synthesize estimates of shortwave, longwave and spectral surface radiative fluxes by fusing observations from numerous satellite platforms that include MODIS observations. This information was obtained in the framework of the MEaSURES and NEWS programs; it will be evaluated against ground observations and compared to independent satellite and model estimates. Attention will be given to updates on our knowledge on the radiative balance as compared to what is known from shorter time records.