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Remote Sensing
Volume 17
Issue 23
10.3390/rs17233902
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Technical Note

Assessment of Instrument Performance of the FY3E/JTSIM/DARA Radiometer Through the Analysis of TSI Observations

by
Jean-Philippe Montillet
1,*,
Wolfgang Finsterle
1,
Ping Zhu
2,
Margit Haberreiter
1,
Silvio Koller
1,
Daniel Pfiffner
1,
Duo Wu
3,
Xin Ye
3,
Dongjun Yang
3,
Wei Fang
3,
Jin Qi
4,5 and
Peng Zhang
4,5
1
Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), 7260 Davos, Switzerland
2
Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
3
Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dongnan Hu Road 3888, Changchun 130022, China
4
Innovation Center for FengYun Meteorological Satellite, National Satellite Meteorological Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China
5
Key Laboratory of Radiometric Calibration and Validation for Environmental Satellites, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(23), 3902; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17233902 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 26 August 2025 / Revised: 20 November 2025 / Accepted: 27 November 2025 / Published: 30 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Satellite Missions for Earth and Planetary Exploration)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, satellite missions have monitored Total Solar Irradiance (TSI), providing a long-term record of solar variability. The Digital Absolute Radiometer (DARA), onboard the Chinese Fengyun-3E (FY3E) spacecraft since 4 July 2021, contributes to extending this record. In this study, we evaluate the DARA observations in both World Radiometric Reference (WRR) and International System of Units (SI) scales. We compare these records with those from other instruments on different spacecraft (i.e., VIRGO/PMO6, TSIS-1/TIM) and with the co-located Solar Irradiance Absolute Radiometer (SIAR) on FY3E. A key finding is the identification and correction of an instrumental artifact: an issue in the thermal aperture model, linked to annual satellite maneuvers, repetitively introduced an artificial step of 0.15±0.05 Wm−2 into the TSI measurements.A statistical analysis of the measurements in the SI scale shows that the mean value of the DARA TSI observations is approximately 1359.58 Wm−2 (6-hourly rate), which is lower than the ones recorded by VIRGO/PMO6 (1.82 Wm−2), TSIS-1/TIM (2.90 Wm−2), and SIAR (2.54 Wm−2). We estimate a degradation of ∼49 ppm over 46 months due to the exposure of the instrument to the (Extreme) Ultraviolet (UV/EUV) radiations. Finally, the corrected DARA observations are incorporated into the long-term TSI composite time series. Comparison with the PMOD/WRC composite shows only marginal differences (less than 0.015 Wm−2), confirming the consistency and reliability of including the new TSI product (i.e., JTSIM-DARAv1).
Keywords: total solar irradiance; digital absolute radiometer (DARA); FY3E/JTSIM; World Radiometric Reference (WRR); degradation UV/EUV total solar irradiance; digital absolute radiometer (DARA); FY3E/JTSIM; World Radiometric Reference (WRR); degradation UV/EUV

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MDPI and ACS Style

Montillet, J.-P.; Finsterle, W.; Zhu, P.; Haberreiter, M.; Koller, S.; Pfiffner, D.; Wu, D.; Ye, X.; Yang, D.; Fang, W.; et al. Assessment of Instrument Performance of the FY3E/JTSIM/DARA Radiometer Through the Analysis of TSI Observations. Remote Sens. 2025, 17, 3902. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17233902

AMA Style

Montillet J-P, Finsterle W, Zhu P, Haberreiter M, Koller S, Pfiffner D, Wu D, Ye X, Yang D, Fang W, et al. Assessment of Instrument Performance of the FY3E/JTSIM/DARA Radiometer Through the Analysis of TSI Observations. Remote Sensing. 2025; 17(23):3902. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17233902

Chicago/Turabian Style

Montillet, Jean-Philippe, Wolfgang Finsterle, Ping Zhu, Margit Haberreiter, Silvio Koller, Daniel Pfiffner, Duo Wu, Xin Ye, Dongjun Yang, Wei Fang, and et al. 2025. "Assessment of Instrument Performance of the FY3E/JTSIM/DARA Radiometer Through the Analysis of TSI Observations" Remote Sensing 17, no. 23: 3902. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17233902

APA Style

Montillet, J.-P., Finsterle, W., Zhu, P., Haberreiter, M., Koller, S., Pfiffner, D., Wu, D., Ye, X., Yang, D., Fang, W., Qi, J., & Zhang, P. (2025). Assessment of Instrument Performance of the FY3E/JTSIM/DARA Radiometer Through the Analysis of TSI Observations. Remote Sensing, 17(23), 3902. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17233902

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