Volume 5 overview: Recent progress in remote sensing of earth’s energy budget

Abstract

The Earth’s climate is largely determined by its energy budget, that is, the energy it receives from the Sun and the energy it loses when it reflects and reradiates that energy back into outer space. Satellite remote sensing can measure these energy budget components at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface of the Earth. This article provides an overview of recent progress in estimation based on data from remote sensing as well as an understanding of the Earth’s energy budget from the multiple sources. After describing the relevant satellite sensors, it synthesizes recent advances in estimating the TOA energy imbalance, including total solar irradiance, planetary albedo, and outgoing longwave radiation. It also discusses surface energy budget components, such as albedo, incident solar radiation, longwave downward and upwelling radiation, all-wave net radiation, sensible, and latent heat fluxes. For each component, the estimation methods are outlined and are followed by the estimates and the spatial and temporal variations. The challenges for estimating energy budget components more accurately from satellite remote sensing are also discussed in the conclusion.