Hemispheric differences in the earth radiation budget derived from Nimbus-7 related to climate studies

Abstract

Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) data from Nimbus-7 over the period November 1978 – June 1980 has consistently shown strong hemispheric differences when analyzed over different temporal and spatial scales. Hemispheric variations in time latitude cross sections of net and emitted radiation were found to be caused by changes in the Earth-Sun distance and continental effects. Maps of annual range for the entire Earth calculated from monthly averages showed areas of high and low variability of the different ERB parameters. The ERB of these regional areas were examined and most of the variability was found to lay in the large amplitude of the annual solar cycle. Variations in the global annual cycle of albedo /1/ are studied with respect to differences in latitudinal averaged albedo. The anomaly in the annual cycle of global averaged albedo was found to be caused by tropical albedo changes.