Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Averages: Zonal and Global Flux

ERBE_S4G_SC_ZG_1 contains Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) satellite measurements of radiant flux and albedo averaged on regional, zonal, and global scales. Data collection is complete, originating from a multi-satellite system including NASA's ERBS and NOAA's NOAA-9 and NOAA-10 platforms. The dataset provides processed averages at 2.5, 5, and 10-degree resolutions.

Use Cases

• Validating climate model simulations of Earth's radiation budget using regional and global albedo averages.
• Analyzing long-term trends in shortwave and longwave radiative flux from satellite-derived zonal means.
• Studying spatial patterns of Earth's energy budget using 2.5, 5, and 10-degree zonal average data.
• Correlating atmospheric conditions with measured radiant flux values from the scanner's three spectral channels.

Strengths

• Data originates from a calibrated multi-satellite system (ERBS, NOAA-9, NOAA-10) providing complementary global and mid-latitude coverage.
• Scanner instruments used three specific detectors for shortwave (0.2-5 µm), longwave (5-50 µm), and total (0.2-50 µm) wavebands, with space views on every scan to guard against drift.
• Provides averages at multiple specific spatial resolutions: 2.5, 5, and 10 degrees for zonal and global regions.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: the 'last updated' date differs significantly between Data.gov (2026-03-13) and NASA Earthdata (1990-02-28), casting doubt on provenance timeliness.
• No column names, row counts, or dataset size information is provided on any platform, limiting immediate usability assessment.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov but is 'None' on NASA Earthdata, creating uncertainty for reuse.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from scanner instrument packages on ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10, processed into zonal and global averages.

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:06:29.883587

Geography

Global coverage from NOAA-9 and NOAA-10, with ERBS coverage between 67.5 degrees north and south latitude.