ERBE S-4: Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Averages in Native Format

ERBE S-4 data provides space and time averages of radiant flux and albedo on regional, zonal, and global scales from a multi-satellite system. The data collection is complete, with measurements from the ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10 satellites between February 1985 and October 1986. NASA produced this dataset, which is stored as 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit integers in native format.

Use Cases

• Modeling Earth's radiation budget based on regional, zonal, and global flux averages.
• Analyzing albedo variations over time based on scanner and non-scanner satellite data.
• Validating climate models using spatially averaged radiant flux measurements.
• Studiating spectral radiation using data from total spectral and shortwave channels.

Strengths

• Data collection is explicitly stated as complete.
• Data originates from a multi-satellite system (ERBS, NOAA-9, NOAA-10) for broader coverage.
• Includes measurements from both scanner and non-scanner instrument packages.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• MFOV measurements from the NOAA-10 satellite have not been archived.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10 instruments, including scanner and non-scanner packages.

Time Range

February 1985 through October 1986 (for combined ERBS and NOAA-9 MFOV product).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:00:05.485741; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global, with ERBS providing coverage between 67.5 degrees north and south latitude.