The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment: Science and implementation

TLDR

This paper provides an overview of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. The study aims to describe the scientific importance and objectives of the mission, including the need for three spacecraft and complementary radiometer types. The experiment uses scanning and nonscanning radiometer packages on three spacecraft: a 57°‑inclination satellite that completes a global scan every two months, and NOAA‑F and NOAA‑G sun‑synchronous satellites, with scanning radiometers covering shortwave, longwave, and total channels and nonscanning packages comprising wide‑ and medium‑field‑of‑view radiometers each with total and shortwave detectors. The study reports that the mission’s scientific importance and objectives are defined, noting the need for three spacecraft and complementary radiometer types.

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. The experiment consists of scanning and nonscanning radiometer packages on three spacecraft. One is a satellite with a 57° inclination orbit which processes around the earth once every 2 months. Packages are also flown on the sun‐synchronous NOAA‐F and NOAA‐G operational meteorological satellites. The scanning radiometer includes three channels: shortwave, long‐wave, and total. The nonscanner package encompasses a pair of wide‐field‐of‐view radiometers and a pair of medium‐field‐of‐view radiometers. Each pair consists of a total and a shortwave radiometer. The scientific importance and objectives of the mission are described, including the need for the three spacecraft and the utility of the complementary types of radiometers.