Accurate Monitoring of Terrestrial Aerosols and Total Solar Irradiance: Introducing the Glory Mission

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael I. Mishchenko ◽  
Brian Cairns ◽  
Greg Kopp ◽  
Carl F. Schueler ◽  
Bryan A. Fafaul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Radiative Forcings ◽  
Cloud Properties ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Measurement Strategy ◽  
Total Irradiance ◽  
Earth’S Climate

The NASA Glory mission is intended to facilitate and improve upon long-term monitoring of two key forcings influencing global climate. One of the mission's principal objectives is to determine the global distribution of detailed aerosol and cloud properties with unprecedented accuracy, thereby facilitating the quantification of the aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcings. The other is to continue the 28-yr record of satellite-based measurements of total solar irradiance from which the effect of solar variability on the Earth's climate is quantified. These objectives will be met by flying two state-of-the-art science instruments on an Earth-orbiting platform. Based on a proven technique demonstrated with an aircraft-based prototype, the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) will collect accurate multiangle photopolarimetric measurements of the Earth along the satellite ground track within a wide spectral range extending from the visible to the shortwave infrared. The Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) is an improved version of an instrument currently flying on the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) and will provide accurate and precise measurements of spectrally integrated sunlight illuminating the Earth. Because Glory is expected to fly as part of the A-Train constellation of Earth-orbiting spacecraft, the APS data will also be used to improve retrievals of aerosol climate forcing parameters and global aerosol assessments with other A-Train instruments. In this paper, we detail the scientific rationale and objectives of the Glory mission, explain how these scientific objectives dictate the specific measurement strategy, describe how the measurement strategy will be implemented by the APS and TIM, and briefly outline the overall structure of the mission. It is expected that the Glory results will be used extensively by members of the climate, solar, atmospheric, oceanic, and environmental research communities as well as in education and outreach activities.

Data Fusion of Total Solar Irradiance Composite Time Series Using 40 years of Satellite Measurements: First Results 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Montillet ◽  
Wolfgang Finsterle ◽  
Werner Schmutz ◽  
Margit Haberreiter ◽  
Rok Sikonja
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Data Fusion ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Maunder Minimum ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Climate Reconstructions ◽  
The Earth ◽  
First Results ◽  
The Difference

<p><span>Since the late 70’s, successive satellite missions have been monitoring the sun’s activity, recording total solar irradiance observations. These measurements are important to estimate the Earth’s energy imbalance, </span><span>i.e. the difference of energy absorbed and emitted by our planet. Climate modelers need the solar forcing time series in their models in order to study the influence of the Sun on the Earth’s climate. With this amount of TSI data, solar irradiance reconstruction models  can be better validated which can also improve studies looking at past climate reconstructions (e.g., Maunder minimum). V</span><span>arious algorithms have been proposed in the last decade to merge the various TSI measurements over the 40 years of recording period. We have developed a new statistical algorithm based on data fusion.  The stochastic noise processes of the measurements are modeled via a dual kernel including white and coloured noise.  We show our first results and compare it with previous releases (PMOD,ACRIM, ... ). </span></p>

Effects of Continents and Supercontinents on Climate

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. W. Rogers ◽  
M. Santosh
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
The North ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Control Climate ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Geologic Record

Continents affect the earth’s climate because they modify global wind patterns, control the paths of ocean currents, and absorb less heat than seawater. Throughout earth history the constant movement of continents and the episodic assembly of supercontinents has influenced both global climate and the climates of individual continents. In this chapter we discuss both present climate and the history of climate as far back in the geologic record as we can draw inferences. We concentrate on longterm changes that are affected by continental movements and omit discussion of processes with periodicities less than about 20,000 years. We refer readers to Clark et al. (1999) and Cronin (1999) if they are interested in such short-term processes as El Nino, periodic variations in solar irradiance, and Heinrich events. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section describes the processes that control climate on the earth and includes a discussion of possible causes of glaciation that occurred over much of the earth at more than one time in the past. The second section investigates the types of evidence that geologists use to infer past climates. They include specific rock types that can form only under restricted climatic conditions, varieties of individual fossils, diversity of fossil populations, and information that the 18O/16O isotopic system can provide about temperatures of formation of ancient sediments. The third section recounts the history of the earth’s climate and relates changes to the growth and movement of continents. This history takes us from the Archean, when climates are virtually unknown, through various stages in the evolution of organic life, and ultimately to the causes of the present glaciation in both the north and the south polar regions. The earth’s climate is controlled both by processes that would operate even if continents did not exist and also by the positions and topographies of continents. We begin with the general controls, then discuss the specific effects of continents, and close with a brief discussion of processes that cause glaciation. The general climate of the earth is determined by the variation in the amount of sunshine received at different latitudes, by the earth’s rotation, and by the amount of arriving solar energy that is retained in the atmosphere.

scholarly journals A New Method of Comparing Forcing Agents in Climate Models*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (20) ◽  
pp. 8203-8218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Kravitz ◽  
Douglas G. MacMartin ◽  
Philip J. Rasch ◽  
Andrew J. Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
New Method ◽  
Convergence Time ◽  
Radiative Forcings ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract The authors describe a new method of comparing different climate forcing agents (e.g., CO2 concentration, CH4 concentration, and total solar irradiance) in climate models that circumvents many of the difficulties associated with explicit calculations of efficacy. This is achieved by introducing an explicit feedback loop external to a climate model that adjusts one forcing agent to balance another while keeping global-mean surface temperature constant. The convergence time of this feedback loop can be adjusted, allowing for comparisons of forcing agents to be achieved with relatively short simulations. Comparisons between forcing agents are highly linear in concordance with predicted scaling relationships; for example, the global-mean climate response to a doubling of the CO2 concentration is equivalent to that of a 2.1% change in total solar irradiance. This result is independent of the magnitude of the forcing agent (within the range of radiative forcings considered here) and is consistent across two different climate models.

scholarly journals Science Highlights and Final Updates from 17 Years of Total Solar Irradiance Measurements from the SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment/Total Irradiance Monitor (SORCE/TIM)

Solar Physics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 296 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Kopp
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
Final Data ◽  
Total Irradiance ◽  
Noise Measurements ◽  
Irradiance Data ◽  
Measurement Record

AbstractThe final version (V.19) of the total solar irradiance data from the SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Total Irradiance Monitor has been released. This version includes all calibrations updated to the end of the mission and provides irradiance data from 25 February 2003 through 25 February 2020. These final calibrations are presented along with the resulting final data products. An overview of the on-orbit operations timeline is provided as well as the associated changes in the time-dependent uncertainties. Scientific highlights from the instrument are also presented. These include the establishment of a new, lower TSI value; accuracy improvements to other TSI instruments via a new calibration facility; the lowest on-orbit noise (for high sensitivity to solar variability) of any TSI instrument; the best inherent stability of any on-orbit TSI instrument; a lengthy (17-year) measurement record benefitting from these stable, low-noise measurements; the first reported detection of a solar flare in TSI; and observations of two Venus transits and four Mercury transits.

TSI and TOR measurements with CLARA onboard NorSat-1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margit Haberreiter ◽  
Wolfgang Finsterle ◽  
Jean-Philippe Montillet ◽  
Benjamin Walter ◽  
Bo Andersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Variables ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
Night Side ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
First Time ◽  
Earth Radiation

<p>Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) is one of the Essential Climate Variables (ECV) identified by the World Meteorological Organization's Global Climate System (GCOS). The Compact Lightweight Absolute RAdiometer (CLARA) experiment onboard the Norwegian micro satellite NorSat-1 is a SI traceable radiometer and was launched July 14, 2017 with the primary science goal to measure TSI from space. We present the latest status of the data and degradation correction obtained with this SI-traceable radiometer. Besides TSI, CLARA also measures the total outgoing radiation (TOR) at the top of the Earth atmosphere on the night side of Earth, which is extremely important to understand the Earth Radiation Budget. It is to our knowledge the first time that TSI and the emitted radiation from Earth are measured simultaneously with one SI-traceable absolute radiometer. We will compare the CLARA TSI and TOR time series with other available datasets. Ultimately, we aim towards determining the Earth Energy Imbalance from space. We will discuss the achievements and limitations in direction of this goal.</p>

Variations in Solar Brightness

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas V. Hoyt ◽  
Kenneth H. Shatten
Keyword(s):  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Monochromatic Light ◽  
Light Output ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Astronomical Unit ◽  
Geomagnetic Disturbances ◽  
Solar Constant ◽  
Total Irradiance ◽  
Total Light ◽  
Solar Brightness

In the last chapter we saw that sunspots, aurorae, and geomagnetic disturbances vary in an 11-year cycle. So do many other solar features, including faculae and plages, which are bright regions seen in visible and monochromatic light, respectively. If both bright faculae and dark sunspots follow 11-year cycles, does this mean the sun’s total light output varies? Or are these two contrasting features balanced so that the sun’s output of light remains constant? The light output of the sun is often discussed in two different ways: either as the solar luminosity, which is the sun’s omnidirectional radiant output, or as the solar constant, the output seen in the direction of the Earth. In this chapter, we explore the variable solar light output that has been the subject of vigorous discussions. The total solar irradiance or solar constant is defined as the total radiant power passing through a unit area at Earth’s mean orbital distance of 1 astronomical unit. Today the most common units of solar irradiance are watts per square meter (W/m2). Power is defined as energy per unit time, so the solar irradiance can also be expressed in calories per square centimeter per minute. Modern experiments indicate that the sun’s radiant output is about 1367 W/m2, with an uncertainty of about 4 W/m2. About 150 years of effort by many people have been required to establish the value to this accuracy. The sun’s radiant output is not an easy quantity to measure, and we will discuss some of the struggles required to measure it. In the late 1800s, many scientists considered the solar total irradiance or solar irradiance to be constant. Oceanographers Dove and Maury vigorously supported this viewpoint, so the solar irradiance was called the solar constant. For the next century, virtually every paper concerning the sun’s radiant output used the term solar constant. No physical justification for this nomenclature existed, only a philosophical bias. Yet by the 1950s this bias proved so strong and so prevalent that support for individuals who wished to measure variations in the solar constant became almost nonexistent.

How to calibrate a solar radiometer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Finsterle ◽  
Margit Haberreiter ◽  
Jean-Philippe Montillet
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Energy Applications ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Technical Developments ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Observation Instruments

<p>Solar radiometers are deployed in many locations on the ground and in space. The radiometers in space are measuring the solar energy input into the Earth system per time and unit area, also known as the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI). TSI radiometers are also used to calibrate Earth Observation instruments and to measure the Total Outgoing Radiation (TOR) at the top of the atmosphere, which is a key component in the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB). Ground-based solar radiometers measure the local irradiance levels, which are used for monitoring of atmospheric properties and solar energy applications.</p><p>Traceability of the radiation measurements to SI units is crucial in all of these applications. However, calibrating and characterising a solar radiometer is a technically challenging task. Depending on the requirements for a specific application, different calibration concepts <span>can be employed in the calibration and characterization process.</span></p><p><span>We will present the currently available calibration concepts, their advantages and disadvantages, and put special focus on recent technical developments, such as the cryogenic standard radiometers for solar irradiance on the ground and in space. </span></p>

scholarly journals Solar Monitoring has a Past and Present: Does it have a Future?

1994 ◽  
Vol 143 ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Willson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Total Solar Irradiance ◽  
Collaborative Effort ◽  
Solar Cycles ◽  
Earth Observing System ◽  
Total Irradiance ◽  
Sustained Effort

Intrinsic variations of total solar irradiance have, after nearly a century of sustained effort, been demonstrated by flight experiments during solar cycles 21 and 22. This accomplishment has been the result of a collaborative effort on behalf of several groups of researchers in both the United States and Europe. The overriding concern at this point of time is whether the integrity of the precision long-term solar total irradiance database, which began at the maximum of solar cycle 21 and continues in the present, will be lost in the late 1990’s, prior to the inception of experiments planned for the NASA Earth Observing System beginning in 2002. Experiments are not currently in place to prevent an unbridgeable discontinuity in the precision total solar irradiance database.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document