Downward Longwave Radiation at the Surface from Satellite Measurements

Abstract

A new technique is presented for generating downward longwave flux at the Earth's surface from satellite meteorological data and a radiative transfer model The technique was tested by using TIROS-N data from 41 passes over a ground site covering a period of one month. Satellite-derived fluxes were compared with those measured by a ground-based pyrgeometer during each overpass. The standard error of the satellite-derived fluxes relative to the mean ground-measured values was found to be 6.5%.