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In the framework of the global energy balance, the radiative energy exchanges between Sun, Earth and space are now accurately quantified from new satellite missions. Much less is known about the magnitude of the energy flows within the climate system and at the Earth surface, which cannot be directly measured by satellites. In addition to satellite observations, here we make extensive use of the growing number of surface observations to constrain the global energy balance not only from space, but also from the surface. We combine these observations with the latest modeling efforts performed for the 5th IPCC assessment report to infer best estimates for the global mean surface radiative components. Our analyses favor global mean downward surface solar and thermal radiation values near 185 and 342 Wm−2, respectively, which are most compatible with surface observations. Combined with an estimated surface absorbed solar radiation and thermal emission of 161 and 397 Wm−2, respectively, this leaves 106 Wm−2 of surface net radiation available globally for distribution amongst the non-radiative surface energy balance components. The climate models overestimate the downward solar and underestimate the downward thermal radiation, thereby simulating nevertheless an adequate global mean surface net radiation by error compensation. This also suggests that, globally, the simulated surface sensible and latent heat fluxes, around 20 and 85 Wm−2 on average, state realistic values. The findings of this study are compiled into a new global energy balance diagram, which may be able to reconcile currently disputed inconsistencies between energy and water cycle estimates., Climate Dynamics, 40, ISSN:0930-7575, ISSN:1432-0894

In the most comprehensive pyrheliometer comparison known to date, 33 instruments were deployed to measure direct normal solar radiation over a 10-month period in Golden, Colorado. The goal was to determine their performance relative to four electrical-substitution cavity radiometers that were calibrated against the World Radiometric Reference (WRR) that is maintained at the World Radiation Center in Davos, Switzerland. Because of intermittent cabling problems with one of the cavity radiometers, the average of three windowed, electrical-substitution cavity radiometers served as the reference irradiance for 29 test instruments during the 10-month study. To keep the size of this work manageable, comparisons are limited to stable sunny conditions, passing clouds, calm and windy conditions, and hot and cold temperatures. Other variables could have been analyzed, or the conditions analyzed could have employed higher resolution. A more complete study should be possible now that the instruments are identified; note that this analysis was performed without any knowledge on the part of the analyst of the instruments’ manufacturers or models. Apart from the windowed cavities that provided the best measurements, two categories of performance emerged during the comparison. All instruments exceeded expectations in that they measured with lower uncertainties than the manufacturers’ own specifications. Operational 95% uncertainties for the three classes of instruments, which include the uncertainties of the open cavities used for calibration, were about 0.5%, 0.8%, and 1.4%. The open cavities that were used for calibration of all pyrheliometers have an estimated 95% uncertainty of 0.4%–0.45%, which includes the conservative estimate of 0.3% uncertainty for the WRR.

Downwelling and upwelling shortwave and longwave radiation components from six active polar sites, taking part of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN), were selected for the period of the last International Polar Year (March 2007 to March 2009), and included in the BSRN-IPY dataset, along with metadata and supplementary data for some of the stations. Two sites, located at Svalbard archipelago (Ny Ålesund) and Alaska (Barrow), represent Arctic sea-level conditions. Four Antarctic stations represent both sea-level (Dronning Maud Land and Cosmonaut Sea) and high-elevation conditions (South Pole and East Antarctic Plateau). The BSRN-IPY dataset content and quality are discussed. The dataset is now available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.737668, and can be used for free after accepting the BSRN data release guidelines. The dataset has been summarized as monthly averages and subject to further evaluation according to strict criteria not previously applied.

Characterizing the performance of ground-based commercial radiometers in cold and/or low-pressure environments is critical for developing accurate flux measurements in the polar regions and in the upper troposphere and stratosphere. Commercially available broadband radiometers have a stated operational temperature range of, typically, −20° to +50°C. Within this range, their temperature dependencies of sensitivities change less than 1%. But for deployments on high-altitude platforms or in polar regions, which can be much colder than −20°C, information on temperature dependency of sensitivity is not always available. In this paper, the temperature dependencies of sensitivities of popular pyranometers and pyrgeometers manufactured by Kipp and Zonen were tested in a thermal-vacuum chamber. When their body temperature is lowered to −60°C, pyranometer sensitivity drops by 4%–6% from the factory-default specification. Pyrgeometer sensitivity increases by 13% from the factory-default specification during a similar temperature change. When the chamber pressure is lowered from 830 to 6 hPa, the sensitivity decreases by about 2% for the pyranometer, and increases by about 2% for the pyrgeometer. Note that these temperature and pressure dependencies of sensitivities are specific for the instruments that were tested and should not be applied to others. These findings show that for measurements suitable for climate studies, it is crucial to characterize temperature and/or pressure effects on radiometer sensitivity for deployments on high-altitude platforms and in polar regions.

Comparisons of aerosol optical depths (AODs) determined from several types of Sun photometers operating side by side as part of four different networks (GAW PFR, AERONET, SKYNET, and NOAA/ESRL aerosol monitoring programs) were made at 6 different environmental stations to evaluate the different types of current state-of-the-art instruments under different aerosol loading conditions. A comparison between AERONET CIMEL and GAW PFR at a high altitude calibration site, Mauna Loa, shows an excellent agreement with 0.001 bias for 500 nm AOD. AODs obtained from direct Sun-pointing instruments are within 0.01 bias, though these results are similar to or slightly larger than those given in previous short-term intensive studies. These results suggest that well-maintained networks of direct Sun-pointing instruments developed by different companies/institutions can provide quality-assured AOD data across the globe to the aerosol-climate research community. The poorer agreement between a hemispherical field-of-view (F...

The "filling-in" (FI) of Fraunhofer lines, often referred to as the Ring effect, was examined using measurements of near ultraviolet sunlight scattered from the zenith sky above Boulder, Colorado during July and August 2005. The FI of the 344.1 nm Fe I line was directly determined by comparing direct sun and cloud-free zenith sky spectra recorded on the same day. The results, obtained over solar zenith angles (SZA) from 20° to 70°, are compared to the predictions of a simple rotational Raman Scattering (RRS) spectral model. The measured FI was found to be up to 70% greater than that predicted by first-order molecular scattering with a much stronger SZA dependence. Simultaneously measured aerosol optical depths and Monte Carlo calculations show that the combination of aerosol scattering and second-order molecular scattering can account for these differences, and potentially explain the contradictory SZA dependences in previously published measurements of FI. These two scattering processes also introduce a wavelength dependence to FI that complicates the fitting of diffuse sunlight observations in differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS). A simple correction to improve DOAS retrievals by removing this wavelength dependence is described.

Thermopile pyranometers’ thermal offset has been recognized since the pyranometer’s inception. This offset is often overlooked or ignored because its magnitude is small compared to the overall solar signal at higher irradiance. With the demand of smaller uncertainty in measuring solar radiation, recent publications have described a renewed interest in this offset, its magnitude, and its effect on solar measurement networks for atmospheric science and solar energy applications. Recently, it was suggested that the magnitude of the pyranometer thermal offset is the same if the pyranometer is shaded or unshaded. Therefore, calibrating a pyranometer using a method known as the shade/unshade method would result in accurate responsivity calculations because the thermal offset error is canceled. When using the component sum method for the pyranometer calibration, the thermal offset error, which is typically negative when the sky is cloudless, does not cancel, resulting in an underestimated shortwave responsivity. Most operational pyranometers that are in use for solar radiation measuring networks are calibrated using the component sum method since it is possible to calibrate many pyranometers simultaneously. From this arises the importance of correcting the component sum method results to account for the thermal offset error. In this article a method of using a blackbody system to calculate the net longwave responsivity of pyranometers, which is largely responsible for the offset error, is described. This longwave responsivity is then used to correct the pyranometer’s shortwave responsivity during the component sum method calibrations and thereby substantially reduces the effect of the offset error on the final pyranometer responsivity. Practical procedures for performing this calibration procedure along with its limitations and remaining uncertainties are given.

Variations in solar radiation incident at Earth's surface profoundly affect the human and terrestrial environment. A decline in solar radiation at land surfaces has become apparent in many observational records up to 1990, a phenomenon known as global dimming. Newly available surface observations from 1990 to the present, primarily from the Northern Hemisphere, show that the dimming did not persist into the 1990s. Instead, a widespread brightening has been observed since the late 1980s. This reversal is reconcilable with changes in cloudiness and atmospheric transmission and may substantially affect surface climate, the hydrological cycle, glaciers, and ecosystems.

Long-term variations in solar radiation at Earth's surface ( S ) can affect our climate, the hydrological cycle, plant photosynthesis, and solar power. Sustained decreases in S have been widely reported from about the year 1960 to 1990. Here we present an estimate of global temporal variations in S by using the longest available satellite record. We observed an overall increase in S from 1983 to 2001 at a rate of 0.16 watts per square meter (0.10%) per year; this change is a combination of a decrease until about 1990, followed by a sustained increase. The global-scale findings are consistent with recent independent satellite observations but differ in sign and magnitude from previously reported ground observations. Unlike ground stations, satellites can uniformly sample the entire globe.

In this paper, solar irradiance forecasts made by mesoscale numerical weather prediction models are compared with observations taken during three air-quality experiments in various parts of the United States. The authors evaluated the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Eta Model. The observations were taken during the 2000 Texas Air Quality Experiment (TexAQS), the 2000 Central California Ozone Study (CCOS), and the New England Air Quality Study (NEAQS) 2002. The accuracy of the model forecast irradiances show a strong dependence on the aerosol optical depth. Model errors on the order of 100 W m−2 are possible when the aerosol optical depth exceeds 0.1. For smaller aerosol optical depths, the climatological attenuation used in the models yields solar irradiance estimates that are in good agreement with the observations.

In this study the aerosol direct radiative forcing (ADRF) of Asian dust is evaluated by model simulation at Gosan, Jeju using the data from a sun/sky radiometer, a Micro-Pulse Lidar (MPL), and column radiometer measurements of solar downwelling irradiance in April, 2001. We suggest a method of determining aerosol parameters for the radiative transfer model from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data set. Since the AERONET measurements provide the refractive indices at only four wavelengths, and the aerosol parameters can be calculated at these wavelengths with a Mie code, we use a linear regression method for extending these measurements to the full wavelength spectrum of the radiative transfer model. The aerosol forcing by the Asian dust aerosols is estimated and compared to the aerosol forcing of non-dust aerosols. On the Asian dust event day, April 13, the daily average ADRF was estimated as -58.1 W/m 2 at the surface and -25.7 W/m 2 at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). On April 15, a non-dust day slightly influenced by anthropogenic aerosols, the ADRF was -29.0 W/m 2 at the surface and -11.6 W/m 2 at the TOA. Although the Asian dust aerosols show larger forcing, its forcing efficiency (forcing per unit optical thickness) is smaller than that of non-dust aerosols; -41.0 W/m 2 /τ 6 7 0 at the TOA and -94.9 W/m 2 /τ 6 7 0 at the surface on the dust day for dust aerosols, as opposed to -50.0 W/m 2 /τ 6 7 0 at the TOA and -129.3 W/m 2 /τ 6 7 0 at the surface on the non-dust day for non-dust aerosols. We believe that this is due to the larger single scattering albedo of dust aerosols, which causes smaller absorption, and the larger asymmetry factor which causes more forward scattering or less reflection, compared to anthropogenic aerosols. The model results were validated with the surface irradiance measurement data and the comparison showed a good agreement. The radiative transfer calculation underestimates the solar irradiance of 2∼3% on average. The aerosol profiles measured by lidar are used to estimate the influence of the vertical distribution of Asian dust aerosols on the ADRF. Using the vertical aerosol profiles, we found an instantaneous short wave radiative heating larger than 2 K/day. We believe the enhanced heating rate by the aerosol layers contributes to the increase in static stability within the dust layer. This fact is verified by the temperature profile measured by the sonde, and may explain the longevity and consequently long-range transport of Asian dust.

Because atmospheric longwave radiation is one of the most fundamental elements of an expected climate change, there has been a strong interest in improving measurements and model calculations in recent years. Important questions are how reliable and consistent are atmospheric longwave radiation measurements and calculations and what are the uncertainties? The First International Pyrgeometer and Absolute Sky-scanning Radiometer Comparison, which was held at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma, answers these questions at least for midlatitude summer conditions and reflects the state of the art for atmospheric longwave radiation measurements and calculations. The 15 participating pyrgeometers were all calibration-traced standard instruments chosen from a broad international community. Two new chopped pyrgeometers also took part in the comparison. An absolute sky-scanning radiometer (ASR), which includes a pyroelectric detector and a reference blackbody source, was used for the first time as a reference standard instrument to field calibrate pyrgeometers during clear-sky nighttime measurements. Owner-provided and uniformly determined blackbody calibration factors were compared. Remarkable improvements and higher pyrgeometer precision were achieved with field calibration factors. Results of nighttime and daytime pyrgeometer precision and absolute uncertainty are presented for eight consecutive days of measurements, during which period downward longwave irradiance varied between 260 and 420 W m−2. Comparisons between pyrgeometers and the absolute ASR, the atmospheric emitted radiance interferometer, and radiative transfer models LBLRTM and MODTRAN show a surprisingly good agreement of

The clear-sky transmission of the atmosphere contributes to determining the amount of solar irradiance that reaches various levels in the atmosphere, which in turn is fundamental to defining the climate of the earth. As of the end of 1999, sustained clear-sky solar transmission over the mid-Pacific, as viewed from Mauna Loa, Hawaii, reached its highest level of clarity since before the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and appears to be continuing to increase toward baseline levels established during 1958–62 and not sustained since. This record is used to answer the question as to impact of transmission variations, which can be attributed to either upward scattering or absorption above the station, on the net solar irradiance at 3.4 km, the altitude of the isolated mountain-top observing site. Net solar irradiance at a given level describes the total solar irradiance absorbed below that level. Monthly mean net solar anomalies caused by transmission variations, relative to the 1958–62 baseline, r...

Cloudy sky average photon path lengths were measured using the gamma band of oxygen near 628 nm on many days over Boulder, Colorado, using a zenith-looking spectrograph with a resolution of 0.8 nm. The approach allows accurate measurement of the average photon path length. Days characterized by relatively extensive cloud cover are examined here, which exhibit very large path length variations as the cloud fields overhead evolve. The ability of a plane parallel line-by-line model with a single uniform cloud layer to predict the measured O2 path lengths has been tested by constraining the model to the (independently) observed surface irradiance. Overall, its performance is quite good, which demonstrates that the relationship between the diffuse transmission by clouds and the average photon path length is consistent with plane parallel radiative transfer calculations for the conditions studied. Thus large errors in the cloud radiative transfer of such models, as suggested by some recent cloud absorption measurements, are not supported by this study. Furthermore, direct observations in the blue and red spectral regions do not support even a 1% differential absorption between these spectral regions.

Many different techniques are used for the calculation of Rayleigh optical depth in the atmosphere. In some cases differences among these techniques can be important, especially in the UV region of the spectrum and under clean atmospheric conditions. The authors recommend that the calculation of Rayleigh optical depth be approached by going back to the first principles of Rayleigh scattering theory rather than the variety of curve-fitting techniques currently in use. A survey of the literature was conducted in order to determine the latest values of the physical constants necessary and to review the methods available for the calculation of Rayleigh optical depth. The recommended approach requires the accurate calculation of the refractive index of air based on the latest published measurements. Calculations estimating Rayleigh optical depth should be done as accurately as possible because the inaccuracies that arise can equal or even exceed other quantities being estimated, such as aerosol optica...

Direct measurements of the absorption of downwelling visible radiation by nitrogen dioxide are presented. The data show that this gas can contribute significantly to local radiative forcing under certain conditions. The observed enhancements in nitrogen dioxide absorption are likely to be due both to pollution and to production by lightning in convective clouds. Case studies of several days of observations in Colorado reveal peak absorption of downwelling radiation by NO2 of up to 5–12%, corresponding to an estimated local radiative forcing that is likely to be in the range of 5–30 W/m2. The amount of local forcing associated with thunderstorm activity depends strongly upon the cloud optical depth and on where the NO2 resides within the clouds. These case studies suggest that NO2 can play a significant role in the absorption of radiation (including but not limited to anomalous cloud absorption) either under polluted conditions or when electrically active storms are considered.

We compare the downward diffuse and direct normal irradiance computed by a two-stream model with measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory when the atmosphere was close to a molecular atmosphere. The modeled downward diffuse irradiance agrees with measurements taken by a shaded pyranometer within the uncertainty of the measurement. Therefore, the two-stream approximation is adequate for computing the downward diffuse irradiance in a molecular atmosphere. This result also indicates that neglecting the state of polarization introduces a negligible error in the irradiance computation.

Although most measurements of total downwelling shortwave irradiance are made with pyranometers, the World Climate Research Program’s Baseline Surface Radiation Network has recommended the use of the summation of shortwave components in which the direct normal irradiance is measured and multiplied by the cosine of the solar zenith angle and then added to the diffuse horizontal irradiance measured by a pyranometer that is shaded from direct solar radiation by a disk. The nonideal angular response of most pyranometers limits their accuracy to about 3%, or 20–30 W m−2, for instantaneous clear-sky measurements. An intensive study of 21 separate measurements of total horizontal irradiance was conducted during extreme winter conditions of low sun and cold temperatures over 12 days at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory. The experiment showed that the component sum methodology could lower the uncertainty by a factor of 2 or 3. A clear demon...

Radiative transfer models consistently overestimate surface diffuse downward irradiance in cloud-free atmospheres by 9 to 40% at two low altitude sites while correctly calculating direct-normal Solar irradiance. For known systematic and random measurement errors and for realistic aerosol optical properties, the discrepancy can be resolved by a reduction in the vertical aerosol optical thickness (AOT) inferred from sunphotometric measurements by an average 0.02 ± 0.01 for 32 cases examined, together with a compensating increase in a continuum-like atmospheric absorptance over the solar spectrum of ∼5.0% ± 3.0%. This phenomenon is absent at two high altitude sites, where models and measurements agree to within their mutual uncertainties. Examination of apparent AOT at several locations around the globe also indicates presence of such excess atmospheric absorption. The proposed absorption and corresponding reduction in AOT would have important consequences for climate prediction and remote sensing.

To support climate research, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) initiated a new radiometric network, the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN). The network aims at providing validation material for satellite radiometry and climate models. It further aims at detecting long-term variations in irradiances at the earth’s surface, which are believed to play an important role in climate change. The network and its instrumentation are designed 1) to cover major climate zones, 2) to provide the accuracy required to meet the objectives, and 3) to ensure homogenized standards for a long period in the future. The limits of the accuracy are defined to reach these goals. The suitable instruments and instrumentations have been determined and the methods for observations and data management have been agreed on at all stations. Measurements of irradiances are at 1 Hz, and the 1-min statistics (mean, standard deviation, and extreme values) with quality flags are stored at a centralized data archive at the WCRP’s World Radiation Monitoring Center (WRMC) in Zurich, Switzerland. The data are quality controlled both at stations and at the WRMC. The original 1-min irradiance statistics will be stored at the WRMC for 10 years, while hourly mean values will be transferred to the World Radiation Data Center in St. Petersburg, Russia. The BSRN, consisting of 15 stations, covers the earth’s surface from 80°N to 90°S, and will soon be joined by seven more stations. The data are available to scientific communities in various ways depending on the communication environment of the users. The present article discusses the scientific base, organizational and technical aspects of the network, and data retrieval methods; shows various application possibilities; and presents the future tasks to be accomplished.

We consider explanations for disagreements between models and measurements of clear-sky solar transmission. Data from four cloud-free days during the FIRE 1991 field experiment are studied. Our model simulations of solar broadband fluxes exceed measurements by about 10%, About half of this discrepancy occurs in the near-infrared spectral region. Ahout half of this discrepancy can be linked to the direct irradiance. These deviations suggest (1) model underestimates in near-infrared trace-gas absorption and (2) errors in visible diffuse fluxes. The near-infrared error in other models is generally less than the one associated with our model. Other models suggest more trace-gas absorption. However. variations among models are so large that they swamp current measurement errors such as uncertainties of the water vapor column. The visible diffuse flux error cannot he easily explained. We illustrate that a poor cosine response of solar flux instruments could have contributed. Also, underestimates of aerosol absorption could be a factor. There is clearly a need for measurements and comparisons at high spectral resolution to better quantify the sources of these errors. However. these comparisons will only he fruitful if we have confidence in the accuracy of our models and the accuracy of the data.

A UV spectroradiometer was installed at Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO), Hawaii, in July 1995. This instrument has been employed to characterize several broadband UV instruments of a type commonly used to estimate erythemal irradiance at many sites around the globe. One year of clear-sky data from MLO has been analyzed for solar zenith angles (SZAs) of 5°–85°, in steps of 5°, and for total ozone values in the range 220–310 DU measured with a Dobson spectrophotometer. Because the spectral responses of various broadband instruments can be quite different, and particularly because the erythemal response defined for human skin is significantly different than that of many broadband instruments, the calibration of a broadband instrument reporting in erythemal units is strongly dependent on total ozone and SZA. When a broadband instrument is placed in the field it is necessary to know the calibration as a function of ozone and SZA to determine accurate erythemal irradiance. However, the manufacturers of bro...

With the aim of improving the consistency of terrestrial and atmospheric longwave radiation measurements within the Baseline Surface Radiation Network, five Eppley Precision Infrared Radiometer (PIR) pyrgeometers and one modified Meteorological Research Flight (MRF) pyrgeometer were individually calibrated by 11 specialist laboratories. The round-robin experiment was conducted in a ‘‘blind’’ sense in that the participants had no knowledge of the results of others until the whole series of calibrations had ended. The responsivities C(mV/ Wm 22) determined by 6 of the 11 institutes were within about 2% of the median for all five PIR pyrgeometers. Among the six laboratories, the absolute deviation around the median of the deviations of the five instruments is less than 1%. This small scatter suggests that PIR pyrgeometers were stable at least during the two years of the experiment and that the six different calibration devices reproduce the responsivity C of PIR pyrgeometers consistently and within the precision required for climate applications. The results also suggest that the responsivity C can be determined without simultaneous determination of the dome correction factor k, if the temperature difference between pyrgeometer body and dome is negligible during calibration. For field measurements, however, k has to be precisely known. The calibration of the MRF pyrgeometer, although not performed by all institutes, also showed satisfactory results.

A UV spectroradiometer was installed at Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO), Hawaii, in July 1995. This instrument, based on a commercially available double monochromator, uses a diffuser mounted as a horizontal receptor inside a quartz dome and views the whole sky. The instrument scans over the 290–450 nm spectral range with a band pass of about 1 nm for each 5° of solar zenith angle (SZA). The UV irradiances measured at MLO are much more intense than at low-altitude midlatitude locations. For observations at SZA 45° the erythemally weighted UV irradiances can exceed 21 μW cm−2, which is approximately 15–20% greater than that seen at Lauder, New Zealand, for similar ozone amounts. The difference is primarily due to the higher altitude at MLO (3.4 km). For overhead Sun conditions at MLO the largest value of erythemal UV was 51.3±3.1 μW cm−2, which to our knowledge is the highest recorded any-where at the Earth's surface. UV irradiance is strongly correlated (inversely) with Dobson spectrophotometer total ozone measurements at MLO, with higher correlations at shorter wavelengths. The radiative amplification factor (RAF) for erythema at MLO is about 1.33±0.2 at SZA 45°.