Toward the Influence of Clouds on the Shortwave Radiation Budget of the Earth–Atmosphere System Estimated from Satellite Data

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of cloudiness on the shortwave radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere, at the surface, and, as a residual, for the atmosphere itself. The data used for this study are derived exclusively from satellite measurements. Calculations for the top of the atmosphere are based entirely on measurements of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). For the solar radiation budget at the surface, the incoming surface solar radiation is derived from Meteosat data and the surface albedo is calculated from ERBE clear-sky planetary albedo measurements by applying an atmospheric correction scheme. As results, maps of absorbed solar radiation for the total earth–atmosphere system, the surface, and for the atmosphere are presented for the area of investigation, ±60° longitude and latitude. To infer the contribution of clouds, the concept of cloud radiative forcing is applied to these different datasets. It is shown that the solar cloud forcing at th...