GEWEX SRB Shortwave Daily Fluxes from 1983 to 2017

GEWEX SRB Integrated Product (Rel-4) Shortwave Daily Average by UTC provides global fields of 11 shortwave radiative parameters at the surface and top of the atmosphere. The dataset, produced by the NASA World Climate Research Programme/Global Energy and Water-Cycle Experiment (WCRP/GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget Project, covers a long temporal range from July 1983 through June 2017. It is derived from multiple satellite inputs including ISCCP cloud data, SORCE TIM solar irradiance, and MAC V1 aerosol properties.

Use Cases

• Validating climate model simulations of shortwave radiation budgets using all-sky and clear-sky surface flux columns.
• Analyzing trends in Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) for ecological studies.
• Studying cloud radiative forcing by comparing all-sky and pristine-sky Top of Atmosphere (TOA) upward fluxes.
• Investigating the spatial and temporal distribution of solar energy available at the Earth's surface using downward surface flux data.
• Assessing input data consistency for energy and water cycle studies using the included status flag of filled fluxes.

Strengths

• Provides a long-term, continuous global record spanning over 34 years from July 1983 to June 2017.
• Integrates multiple authoritative input sources including ISCCP, SORCE TIM, and MAC V1 for robust parameter derivation.
• Includes differentiated flux measurements for all-sky, clear-sky, and pristine-sky conditions, enabling detailed forcing analysis.
• Dataset is flagged as complete, indicating a finalized and consistent data collection process.

Limitations

• Conflicting temporal coverage exists across platforms; one source indicates data collection ended in June 2017, while another lists a metadata update in March 2026.
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source, limiting precise technical assessment.
• The license is ambiguously noted as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

NASA World Climate Research Programme/Global Energy and Water-Cycle Experiment (WCRP/GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) Project, organized by LARC_ASDC.

Collection Method

Derived using the Shortwave algorithm from satellite-based inputs: ISCCP HXS cloud/radiance, ISCCP nnHIRS precipitable water, SORCE TIM solar irradiance, ISCCP ozone, and MAC V1 aerosol data.

Time Range

July 1983 through June 2017

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:35:42.829368

Geography

Global