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Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2025 | Viewed by 7517

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Guest Editor
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, Ringlaan 3 Avenue Circulaire, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium
Interests: earth radiation budget; atmospheric remote sensing; climate monitoring; weather forecast
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) at the top of the atmosphere describes how the Earth gains energy from the Sun and loses energy to space through reflection of solar radiation and the emission of thermal radiation. The ERB is measured from space with dedicated remote sensing instruments. Its long-term monitoring is of fundamental importance for understanding climate change.

The most fundamental quantity to be monitored is the Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI), which is closely related to Ocean Heat Content (OHC) and Sea level Rise (SLR).

For this Special Issue, original contributions are invited focusing on ERB and EEI remote sensing for either

  • the establishment of past and current ERB and EEI Climate Data Records (CDRs)
  • the outlook for continued or improved future ERB and EEI monitoring
  • insight in climate change gained from the analysis of ERB and EEI CDRs. e.g. related to aerosol radiative forcing or climate feedback.

Dr. Steven Dewitte
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • earth radiation budget
  • earth energy imbalance
  • climate data record
  • climate change analysis

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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21 pages, 19820 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Surface Downward Longwave Radiation Estimation Models over Land Surface
by Yingping Chen, Bo Jiang, Jianghai Peng, Xiuwan Yin and Yu Zhao
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(18), 3422; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16183422 - 14 Sep 2024
Viewed by 618
Abstract
Surface downward longwave radiation (SDLR) is crucial for maintaining the global radiative budget balance. Due to their ease of practicality, SDLR parameterization models are widely used, making their objective evaluation essential. In this study, against comprehensive ground measurements collected from more than 300 [...] Read more.
Surface downward longwave radiation (SDLR) is crucial for maintaining the global radiative budget balance. Due to their ease of practicality, SDLR parameterization models are widely used, making their objective evaluation essential. In this study, against comprehensive ground measurements collected from more than 300 globally distributed sites, four SDLR parameterization models, including three popular existing ones and a newly proposed model, were evaluated under clear- and cloudy-sky conditions at hourly (daytime and nighttime) and daily scales, respectively. The validation results indicated that the new model, namely the Peng model, originally proposed for SDLR estimation at the sea surface and applied for the first time to the land surface, outperformed all three existing models in nearly all cases, especially under cloudy-sky conditions. Moreover, the Peng model demonstrated robustness across various land cover types, elevation zones, and seasons. All four SDLR models outperformed the Global Land Surface Satellite product from Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer Data (GLASS-AVHRR), ERA5, and CERES_SYN1de-g_Ed4A products. The Peng model achieved the highest accuracy, with validated RMSE values of 13.552 and 14.055 W/m2 and biases of −0.25 and −0.025 W/m2 under clear- and cloudy-sky conditions at daily scale, respectively. Its superior performance can be attributed to the inclusion of two cloud parameters, total column cloud liquid water and ice water, besides the cloud fraction. However, the optimal combination of these three parameters may vary depending on specific cases. In addition, all SDLR models require improvements for wetlands, bare soil, ice-covered surfaces, and high-elevation regions. Overall, the Peng model demonstrates significant potential for widespread use in SDLR estimation for both land and sea surfaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance)
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20 pages, 10796 KiB  
Article
A Cloud Water Path-Based Model for Cloudy-Sky Downward Longwave Radiation Estimation from FY-4A Data
by Shanshan Yu, Xiaozhou Xin, Hailong Zhang, Li Li, Lin Zhu and Qinhuo Liu
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(23), 5531; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15235531 - 28 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1170
Abstract
Clouds are a critical factor in regulating the climate system, and estimating cloudy-sky Surface Downward Longwave Radiation (SDLR) from satellite data is significant for global climate change research. The models based on cloud water path (CWP) are less affected by cloud parameter uncertainties [...] Read more.
Clouds are a critical factor in regulating the climate system, and estimating cloudy-sky Surface Downward Longwave Radiation (SDLR) from satellite data is significant for global climate change research. The models based on cloud water path (CWP) are less affected by cloud parameter uncertainties and have superior accuracy in SDLR satellite estimation when compared to those empirical and parameterized models relying mainly on cloud fraction or cloud-base temperature. However, existing CWP-based models tend to overestimate the low SDLR values and underestimate the larger SDLR. This study found that this phenomenon was caused by the fact that the models do not account for the varying relationships between cloud radiative effects and key parameters under different Liquid Water Path (LWP) and Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) ranges. Based upon this observation, this study utilized Fengyun-4A (FY-4A) cloud parameters and ERA5 data as data sources to develop a new CWP-based model where the model coefficients depend on the cloud phase and cloud water path range. The accuracy of the new model’s estimated SDLR is 20.8 W/m2 for cloudy pixels, with accuracies of 19.4 W/m2 and 23.5 W/m2 for overcast and partly cloudy conditions, respectively. In contrast, the accuracy of the old CWP-based model was 22.4, 21.2, and 24.8 W/m2, respectively. The underestimation and overestimation present in the old CWP-based model are effectively corrected by the new model. The new model exhibited higher accuracy under various station locations, cloud cover scenarios, and cloud phase conditions compared to the old one. Comparatively, the new model showcased its most remarkable improvements in situations involving overcast conditions, water clouds with low PWV and low LWP values, ice clouds with large PWV, and conditions with PWV ≥ 5 cm. Over a temporal scale, the new model effectively captured the seasonal variations in SDLR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance)
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19 pages, 5376 KiB  
Article
A Multispectral Camera Suite for the Observation of Earth’s Outgoing Radiative Energy
by Steven Dewitte, Al Ameen Abdul Nazar, Yuan Zhang and Lien Smeesters
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(23), 5487; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15235487 - 24 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1579
Abstract
As part of the Earth Climate Observatory space mission concept for the direct observation from space of the Earth Energy Imbalance, we propose an advanced camera suite for the high-resolution observation of the Total Outgoing Radiation of the Earth. For the observation of [...] Read more.
As part of the Earth Climate Observatory space mission concept for the direct observation from space of the Earth Energy Imbalance, we propose an advanced camera suite for the high-resolution observation of the Total Outgoing Radiation of the Earth. For the observation of the Reflected Solar Radiation, we propose the use of two multispectral cameras covering the range from 400 to 950 nm, with a nadir resolution of 1.7 km, combined with a high-resolution RGB camera, with a nadir resolution of 0.57 km. For the observation of the Outgoing Longwave Radiation, we propose the use of six microbolometer cameras, with each a spectral bandwidth of 1 μm in the range from 8 to 14 μm, with a nadir resolution of 2.2 km. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance)
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24 pages, 5846 KiB  
Article
The Uncertainty Analysis of the Entrance Pupil Irradiance for a Moon-Based Earth Radiation Observation Instrument
by Yuan Zhang, Steven Dewitte and Shengshan Bi
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(17), 4132; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15174132 - 23 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1195
Abstract
Moon-Based Earth Radiation Observation (MERO) is expected to improve and enrich the current Earth radiation budget (ERB). For the design of MERO’s instrument and the interpretation of Moon-based data, evaluating the uncertainty of the instrument’s Entrance Pupil Irradiance (EPI) is an important part. [...] Read more.
Moon-Based Earth Radiation Observation (MERO) is expected to improve and enrich the current Earth radiation budget (ERB). For the design of MERO’s instrument and the interpretation of Moon-based data, evaluating the uncertainty of the instrument’s Entrance Pupil Irradiance (EPI) is an important part. In this work, by analyzing the effect of the Angular Distribution Models (ADMs), Earth’s Top of Atmosphere (TOA) flux, and the Earth–Moon distance on the EPI, the uncertainty of EPI is finally studied with the help of the theory of errors. Results show that the ADMs have a stronger influence on the Short-Wave (SW) EPI than those from the Long-Wave (LW). For the change of TOA flux, the SW EPI could keep the attribute of varying hourly time scales, but the LW EPI will lose its hourly-scale variability. The variation in EPI caused by the hourly change of the Moon–Earth distance does not exceed 0.13 mW∙m−2 (1σ). The maximum hourly combined uncertainty reveals that the SW and LW combined uncertainties are about 5.18 and 1.08 mW∙m−2 (1σ), respectively. The linear trend extraction of the EPI demonstrates that the Moon-based data can effectively capture the overall linear change trend of Earth’s SW and LW outgoing radiation, and the uncertainty does not change the linear trend of data. The variation of SW and LW EPIs in the long term are 0.16 mW∙m−2 (SW) and 0.23 mW∙m−2 (LW) per decade, respectively. Based on the constraint of the uncertainty, a simplified dynamic response model is built for the cavity radiometer, a kind of MERO instrument, and the results illuminate that the Cassegrain optical system and electrical substitution principle can realize the detection of Earth’s outing radiation with the sensitivity design goal 1 mW∙m−2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance)
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23 pages, 9296 KiB  
Article
A Model for Estimating the Earth’s Outgoing Radiative Flux from A Moon-Based Radiometer
by Yuan Zhang, Steven Dewitte and Shengshan Bi
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(15), 3773; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15153773 - 29 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1126
Abstract
A Moon-based radiometer can provide continuous measurements for the Earth’s full-disk broadband irradiance, which is useful for studying the Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB) at the height of the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA). The ERB describes how the Earth obtains solar energy and [...] Read more.
A Moon-based radiometer can provide continuous measurements for the Earth’s full-disk broadband irradiance, which is useful for studying the Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB) at the height of the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA). The ERB describes how the Earth obtains solar energy and emits energy to space through the outgoing broadband Short-Wave (SW) and emitted thermal Long-Wave (LW) radiation. In this work, a model for estimating the Earth’s outgoing radiative flux from the measurements of a Moon-based radiometer is established. Using the model, the full-disk LW and SW outgoing radiative flux are gained by converting the unfiltered entrance pupil irradiances (EPIs) with the help of the anisotropic characteristics of the radiances. Based on the radiative transfer equation, the unfiltered EPI time series is used to validate the established model. By comparing the simulations for a Moon-based radiometer with the satellite-based data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR) and the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) datasets, the simulations show that the daytime SW fluxes from the Moon-based measurements are expected to vary between 194 and 205 Wm−2; these simulations agree well with the CERES data. The simulations are about 5 to 20 Wm−2 smaller than the NISTAR data. For the simulated Moon-based LW fluxes, the range is 251~287 Wm−2. The Moon-based and NISTAR fluxes are consistently 5~15 Wm−2 greater than CERES LW fluxes, and both of them also show larger diurnal variations compared with the CERES fluxes. The correlation coefficients of SW fluxes for Moon-based data and NISTAR data are 0.97, 0.63, and 0.53 for the months of July, August, and September, respectively. Compared with the SW flux, the correlation of LW fluxes is more stable for the same period and the correlation coefficients are 0.87, 0.69, and 0.61 for July to September 2017. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance)
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16 pages, 3346 KiB  
Technical Note
Spatial and Temporal Variation Patterns of NO 5.3 µm Infrared Radiation during Two Consecutive Auroral Disturbances
by Fan Wu, Congming Dai, Shunping Chen, Cong Zhang, Wentao Lian and Heli Wei
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(8), 1420; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16081420 - 17 Apr 2024
Viewed by 641
Abstract
The variation in key parameters of the solar–terrestrial space during two consecutive auroral disturbances (the magnetic storm index, Dst index = −422 nT) that occurred during the 18–23 November 2003 period was analyzed in this paper, as well as the spatiotemporal characteristics of [...] Read more.
The variation in key parameters of the solar–terrestrial space during two consecutive auroral disturbances (the magnetic storm index, Dst index = −422 nT) that occurred during the 18–23 November 2003 period was analyzed in this paper, as well as the spatiotemporal characteristics of NO 5.3 μm radiation with an altitude around the location of 55°N 160°W. The altitude was divided into four regions (50–100 km, 100–150 km, 150–200 km, and 200–250 km), and it was found that the greatest amplification occurs at the altitude of 200–250 km. However, the radiance reached a maximum of 3.38 × 10−3 W/m2/sr at the altitude of 123 km during the aurora event, which was approximately 10 times higher than the usual value during “quiet periods”. Based on these findings, the spatiotemporal variations in NO 5.3 μm radiance within the range of latitude 51°S–83°N and longitude of 60°W–160°W were analyzed at 120 km, revealing an asymmetry between the northern and southern hemispheres during the recovery period. Additionally, the recovery was also influenced by the superposition of a second auroral event. The data used in this study were obtained from the OMNI database and the SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) infrared radiometer onboard the TIMED (Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) satellite. Finally, the correlation of NO 5.3 μm radiance at 120 km with temperature, solar wind speed, auroral electrojet index (AE index), and Dst index were analyzed. It was found that only the Dst index had a good correlation with the radiance value. Furthermore, the correlation between the Dst index and radiance at different altitudes was also analyzed, and the highest correlation was found at 170 km. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Radiation Budget and Earth Energy Imbalance)
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