Assessment of the global monthly mean surface insolation estimated from satellite measurements using global energy balance archive data

Abstract

Global datasets of surface radiation budget (SRB) have been obtained from satellite programs. These satellite-based estimates need validation with ground-truth observations. This study validates the estimates of monthly mean surface insolation contained in two satellite-based SRB datasets with the surface measurements made at worldwide radiation stations from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA). One dataset was developed from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) and the other from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). Since the ERBE/SRB data contain the surface net solar radiation only, the values of surface insolation were derived by making use of the surface albedo data contained in the GEWEX/SRB product. -from Authors