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| Surface Radiation Budget | |
|---|---|
| Name | Surface Radiation Budget |
| Caption | Incoming and outgoing radiative fluxes at Earth's surface |
| Unit | W m^-2 |
| Related | Radiation balance, Earth radiation budget, net radiation |
Surface Radiation Budget
The surface radiation budget quantifies net radiative fluxes at Earth's surface, balancing incoming shortwave and longwave radiation with outgoing thermal emission; it underpins studies of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, NOAA, and Met Office assessments of climate and energy exchanges. Used by research programs like World Meteorological Organization initiatives, the budget connects instrumental networks such as Global Climate Observing System, Basel-based laboratories, and field campaigns led by institutions like Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Understanding it informs policy-relevant work referenced by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and modeling efforts at centers such as Hadley Centre and Max Planck Institute for Meteorology.
The surface radiation budget represents the balance between incoming solar shortwave flux and net terrestrial longwave flux at the ground or ocean surface, central to the Earth's energy budget and coupled to processes studied at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is a primary constraint in assessments by International Panel on Climate Change authors, regional projections from National Center for Atmospheric Research, and observational syntheses from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Measurements inform operational forecasts at agencies like European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and historical reanalyses such as ERA5.
Key components include incoming shortwave solar radiation modulated by solar zenith angle and extraterrestrial irradiance recorded by missions like Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and SORCE, reflected shortwave governed by surface albedo observed in MODIS products, downwelling longwave from atmospheric emitters constrained by radiosondes launched by World Meteorological Organization stations, and upwelling longwave emission from the surface described by the Stefan–Boltzmann relation used in parameterizations at NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. Net radiation equals absorbed shortwave plus downwelling longwave minus upwelling longwave and reflected shortwave, a formulation implemented in models at Princeton University and Columbia University.
In situ radiometers (pyranometers, pyrgeometers) maintained by Baseline Surface Radiation Network and field campaigns from ARM Climate Research Facility provide point observations; satellite radiometers aboard Terra (satellite), Aqua (satellite), Meteosat, and GOES infer top-of-atmosphere and surface fluxes via retrieval algorithms developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. Radiative transfer solvers used in inversion tools derive surface fluxes using profiles from radiosonde networks and remote sensors like CALIPSO and CloudSat; operational data assimilation systems at European Space Agency and Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation integrate these products.
Surface radiation exhibits diurnal cycles driven by solar geometry affecting sites such as Greenland ice sheets, Sahara Desert, and Amazon Rainforest; seasonal variability tied to orbital parameters studied in paleoclimate reconstructions at Boreal ecosystems and Antarctic observatories. Interannual variations arise from phenomena like El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and volcanic aerosols from eruptions like Mount Pinatubo, influencing broadband fluxes recorded across networks maintained by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Japan Meteorological Agency.
Atmospheric composition including greenhouse gases tracked by NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories and aerosols from sources such as Anthropocene emissions and wildfires in California alter downwelling longwave and shortwave attenuation; cloud properties (optical depth, phase) characterized by International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project drive large modulation and are studied in projects led by UK Met Office and NASA Ames Research Center. Surface albedo depends on land cover classified in datasets from United States Geological Survey and cryospheric changes at Greenland Ice Sheet and Antarctic Peninsula.
The surface radiation budget controls latent and sensible heat flux partitioning at land and ocean surfaces, governing feedbacks central to projections by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working groups and Earth system model intercomparisons coordinated by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. It influences surface temperature trends assessed by research groups at University of East Anglia (Climatic Research Unit) and energy flows underpinning hydrological cycle changes analyzed by Stockholm Environment Institute.
Climate and weather models at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, NOAA GFDL, Hadley Centre, and Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis implement radiative transfer schemes parameterized for gaseous absorption (e.g., correlated-k methods developed in academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Reading) and cloud–radiation interactions informed by process studies from NCAR. Surface emissivity and albedo parameterizations draw on observations from MODIS and laboratory studies at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Uncertainties arise from instrument calibration drift faced by networks like Baseline Surface Radiation Network, sampling limitations of point measurements versus satellite footprints used by CERES, aerosol forcing uncertainties highlighted in IPCC reports, and cloud phase ambiguities requiring synergistic retrievals from CloudSat and CALIPSO. These challenges affect attribution studies relevant to investigations by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and regional assessments by agencies such as Environment Canada.
Category:Climate