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Facilitating Access to Global Observing Systems Data and Information

GCOS Atmospheric Upper Air ECV*
Earth Radiation Budget (including Solar Irradiance)

* over land, sea and ice

  • Definition: The Earth's Radiation Budget is a concept used for understanding how much energy the Earth gets from the Sun and how much energy the Earth-system radiates back to outer space as invisible light. If the Earth and the Earth's atmosphere retains more solar energy than it radiates back to space, the Earth will warm. If the Earth and the Earth-system radiates more energy to space than it receives from the sun, the Earth will cool. Scientists think of the Radiation Budget in terms of a see-saw or balance. If the Earth retains more energy from the Sun, the Earth warms and emits more infrared energy. This brings the Earth's Radiation Budget into balance. If the Earth emits more of this energy than it absorbs, the Earth cools. As it cools, the Earth emits less energy. This change also brings the Radiation Budget back into balance. Absorbed sunlight raises the Earth's temperature. Emitted radiation or heat lowers the temperature. When absorbed sunlight and emitted heat balance each other, the Earth's temperature doesn't change - the radiation budget is in balance. More... (Source: NASA)
  • Contributing Networks & Status
  • International Data Centers and Archives for Atmospheric Upper-Air:
  • Coordinating Bodies:
  • Satellite Observations

Data, Products, Metadata and Information Access
[ECV Matrix Main Page] [About the ECV Matrix] [Reference Documents] [Contact] [Updated May 18, 2011]

Non-satellite or in-situ Satellite
  • Incoming Sunlight - Global Mean Anomaly of Short Wave Net from ISCCO FD Data (1983-2007) (ISSCP) (Units of measure Watts/m2) provides physically consistent surface and top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes by showing the global monthly mean net shortwave (SW) and net longwave (LW) anomalies at the surface, in the atmosphere and at the TOA over the whole time period. Notable features are: (1) a decrease of the net SW at the surface and TOA, as well as in the atmosphere produced by the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic aerosols in 1991-92; (2) an overall increase of the net SW at TOA and the surface, but not in the atmosphere, from the 1980s to 1990s associated with a decrease in low-latitude cloud cover; (3) three (possibly four) decreases in net LW at the surface and increases in the atmosphere, but not at TOA; and (4) a small decrease of net LW at TOA and in the atmosphere and a larger increase of net LW at the surface occurring in the late 1990s. Another unique feature of the flux profile product is that it provides, for the first time, a comprehensive determination of the synoptic scale variations of the vertical profiles of radiative diabatic heating, albeit with crude vertical resolution, but sufficient to represent radiative heating in the lower, middle or upper troposphere and the stratosphere. (ftp Data Access) (data description) (metadata) (contact)
  • CERES ERBE-like Data (NASA/LARC) The ERBE-like Inversion Subsystem converts filtered CERES radiance measurements to instantaneous radiative flux estimates at the TOA for each CERES field of view. (data access) (contact)