Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Radiant Flux and Albedo Measurements

NASA's Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) collected top-of-atmosphere shortwave and long-wave radiant fluxes and albedo data from three satellites: ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10. The S-10 MFOV Shape Factor product provides inverted daily, monthly hourly, and monthly averages for processed regions. Data collection is complete, with the last update recorded in February 1990.

Use Cases

• Modeling Earth's energy balance using top-of-atmosphere shortwave and long-wave radiant flux averages.
• Analyzing regional albedo variations from the shape factor technique applied to MFOV channel data.
• Studying temporal trends in radiant fluxes using the provided daily, monthly hourly, and monthly averaged records.
• Validating climate simulations against historical satellite observations of Earth's radiation budget.

Strengths

• Data originates from a multi-satellite system (ERBS, NOAA-9, NOAA-10) providing multiple observational sources.
• Product includes data averaged at daily, monthly hourly, and monthly temporal resolutions.
• Records contain both fixed-length averaged data and variable-length individual hour box estimates for detail.

Limitations

• Data collection ended in 1990, limiting analysis to historical periods before recent climate changes.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column definitions are not provided in the description.
• Data format is described as Native (NAT), which may require specialized tools or knowledge for interpretation.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), produced by LARC_ASDC.

Collection Method

Measurements from active cavity radiometer instruments on ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10 satellites, processed using the shape factor technique.

Time Range

Coverage spans the operational period of the ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10 satellites, with data processed monthly.

Freshness

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Geography

Global coverage from satellite observations with a Medium Field of View (MFOV) of about 1000 km in diameter.