Concept information
Preferred term
SRB
Definition
- Scientific Objectives: Surface radiation budget data have the potential for contributing significantly to improved understanding of the four major components of the climate system: the oceans, the land surface, the cryosphere, and the atmosphere. Radiative fluxes into the ocean surface provide an important boundary forcing for the ocean general circulation. Furthermore, since the radiative fluxes into the ocean surface are significantly modulated by boundary layer parameters (e.g., clouds, atmospheric humidity, and temperature), SRB may be an important factor in air-sea interactions. With respect to the land surface, the net radiative balance governs the turbulent fluxes of latent and sensible heat from the surface into the atmosphere. Surface radiative fluxes are also needed for studies related to the energy and water balance of plant canopies. For the cryosphere, the pack ice and its interaction with surface temperature and solar radiation provides the so-called ice-albedo feedback which is a vital component governing climate trends on decadal to longer time scales. Finally, the knowledge of SRB together with top-of-atmosphere Earth radiation budget data can yield, for the first time, observational estimates of tropospheric radiative heating and cloud radiative forcing. Project Description: The Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) data sets are derived from a variety of data sources. The primary data source is the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) C1 data product. Using the ISCCP C1 parameters as input, SRB results are generated using two different algorithms. The Pinker algorithm (developed jointly by Drs. R.T. Pinker and I. Laszlo form the University of Maryland) is a physical model which uses an iterative procedure based on delta-Eddington radiative transfer calculations. The Staylor algorithm (developed by Mr. W.F. Staylor from the NASA Langley Research Center) is a parameterized physical model in which both cloud and aerosol transmission characteristics have been separately tuned to historical data at various locations around the globe. Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data are also used as input to the models, as well as for top-of-atmosphere (TOA) irradiance comparisons with the Pinker Model output. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, provides ground-truth fluxes from the Global Energy Budget Archive (GEBA). These data are used for validation of the Pinker and Staylor calculated downward shortwave surface irradiances. SRB uses the same equal area grid system as that used by ISCCP for its C1 product. The equal-area grid contains 6596 cells covering the globe; where a cell is approximately 280 km x 280 km at the equator. Data Products ------------- The SRB data package consists of daily and monthly shortwave parameters covering a forty-six month period from March 1985 through December 1988. The principle parameters in the data sets are Pinker and Staylor calculated irradiances for the surface and top-of-atmosphere. The total SRB data package for each month consists of six files. The first file is the ASCII header file, named README.MMMYY. The second and third files are ASCII showing Fortran listings of the Pinker and Staylor algorithms (PINKER.FOR and STAYLOR.FOR, respectively). The fourth and fifth files are binary data files in HDF format. The fourth file is the monthly binary file and presents monthly average gridded values for 52 different items in each cell (srb_monavgs_yymm). The fifth file is the daily binary file and presents 24-hr daily average values for 10 key items in each cell (srb_dayavgs_yymm). The sixth file (b_srb_monavgs_yymm.hdf) is a graphics file which contains 19 global images in HDF format. The intent is to allow the user to quickly browse the most important SRB parameters without the requirement to read the entire data set. Project Archive Contact: Langley DAAC User Services Office Mail Stop 157D NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA 23681-0001 USA Phone: (757) 864-8656 FAX: (757) 864-8807 Email: INTERNET > larc@eos.nasa.gov WWW Home Page: "http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/" Project Manager Contact: Dr. Charles H. Whitlock NASA Langley Research Center MS 936 Hampton, VA 23681-0001 USA Phone: (757) 827-4882 FAX: (757) 864-7996 Email: INTERNET > c.h.whitlock@larc.nasa.gov References: The Astronomical Almanac, Nautical Almanac Office, U. S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C., 1985, 1980. Briegleb, B. P., P. Minnis, V. Ramanathan and E. Harrison, 1986: Comparison of regional clear-sky albedos inferred from satellite observations and model calculations. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 25, 214-226. Darnell. W. L., W. F. Staylor, S. K. Gupta, and F. M. Denn, 1988: Estimation of surface insolation using Sun-synchronous satellite data. J. Clim., 1, 820-835. DiPasquale, R.C., and C.H. Whitlock, 1993: 'First WCRP Long-Term Satellite Estimates of Surface Solar Flux for the Globe and Selected Regions', Proceedings of the ERIM/JOANNEUM RESEARCH/CIESIN 25th International Symposium on Remote Sensing and Global Environmental Change. Graz, Austria, April 4-8, 1993. Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hoyt, D. V., 1978: A model for the calculation of solar global insolation. Sol. Energy, 21, 27-35. Kneizys, F., E. Shettle, W. Gallery, J. Chetwynd, L. Abreu, J. Selby, R. Fenn and R. McClatchey, 1980: Atmospheric transmittance/ radiance: Computer code LOWTRAN5. Rep. AFGL-Tr-80-67, Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, Hanscomb AFB, MA, 127 pp. Lacis, A. A., and J. E. Hansen, 1978: A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation in the Earth's atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci, 31, 118-133. Lacis, A. A. and J. E. Hansen, 1974: A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation in the earth's atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 31, 118-133. Pinker, R. T. and I. Laszlo, 1992: Modeling surface solar irradiance for satellite applications on a global scale. J. Appl. Meteor., February issue. Pinker, R. and J. Ewing, 1985: Modeling surface solar radiation: Model formulation and validation. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 24, 389-401. Schiffer, R. A. ,and W. B. Rossow, 1983: The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP): The first project of the World Climate Research Programme. Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., 64, 779-784. Smith, W. L., H. M. Woolf, C. M. Hayden, D. Q. Wark, and L. M. McMillin, 1979: The Tiros-N operational vertical sounder. Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., 60, 1177-1187. Staylor, W. F., and A. C. Wilber, 1990: Global surface albedos estimated from ERBE data. Proceedings of AMS Conf. on Atmospheric Radiation, July 23-27, 1990, San Francisco, CA, pp 231-236. Staylor, W. F., 1985: Reflection and emission models for clouds derived from Nimbus 7 Earth radiation budget scanner measurements. JGR, 90, 8075-8079. Stephens, G. L., S. Ackerman and E. Smith, 1984: A shortwave parameterization revised to improve cloud absorption. J. Atmos. Sci., 41, 687-690. Suttles, J.T., and G. Ohring, 1986: 'Surface Radiation Budget for Climatic Applications'. NASA Reference Publication 1169, NASA. WCP-55, 1983: World Climate Research report of the experts meeting on aerosols and their climatic effects. Williamsburg, Virginia, 28-30 March 1983, A. Deepak and H. E. Gerber, Eds., 107 pp. Whitlock, C.H., Charlock T.P., Staylor, W.F., Pinker, R.T., Laszlo, L., DiPasquale, R.C., and N.A. Ritchey, 1993: 'WCRP Surface Radiation Budget Shortwave Data Product Description - Version 1.1'. NASA Technical Memorandum 107747, National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia. Wiscombe, W. J., R. M. Welch and W. D. Hall, 1984: The effects of very large drops on cloud absorption. Part I: Parcel models. J. Atmos. Sci., 41, 1336-1355. WCRP, 1983: Experts meeting on aerosols and their climate effects. A. Deepak and H. E. Gerber editors, WCP-55, 107 pp. WMO.TD-No. 266, Revised March 1991, 25 pp. Yamamoto, G., 1962: Direct absorption of solar radiation by atmospheric water vapor, carbon dioxide, and molecular oxygen. J. Atmos. Sci., 19, 182-188. (en)
Broader concept
- S - U (en)
URI
https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/7b57d7c2-0aa8-4b44-ab46-00b1dee65cb5
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