G-Rad Measurements

G-Rad Measurements

G-Rad's primary interest is in making and understanding observations of the basic components of the earth's surface radiation budget, upwards and downwards solar and thermal infrared irradiance, with emphasis on global and regional climatic implications. Each of the four radiation budget components can be measured directly, with limited accuracy, with commercially available instruments. G-Rad makes additional observations of radiation and environmental parameters that aid in the evaluation and interpretation of the observations. Seven ongoing long-term observational programs are underway, four dating back more than 20 years, at the globally remote network sites. The quality and quantity of the observations are evolving as resources and technology allow. The following links will give further detail on the specific measurements, instrumentation, calibration procedures, data processing and data retrieval.

Station 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
BRW X X X X X X X X X
Nome             X    
St. Paul             X    
BAO X X X X X X   X X
BLD             X X X
BERM X X     X X   X  
MLO X   X   X X X X  
KWAJ X   X   X X   X  
SMO X   X   X X      
SPO X X X X X X   X  

Measurement types:
1. Downwelling Solar broadband
2. Downwelling Thermal infrared broadband
3. Upwelling solar broadband
4. Upwelling Thermal infrared
5 Direct Solar
6. Diffuse Solar
7. Spectral UV
8. Optical depth
9. Digital all-sky images (daytime only)