CERES Radiation Fluxes

These maps show monthly top of atmosphere radiative fluxes from March 2000 to the present from the Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) data product. These data are produced by averaging observations collected by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) sensors on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites, filling in gaps and constraining the fluxes to remove the inconsistency between average global net TOA flux and heat storage in the Earth-atmosphere system. The top of atmosphere incoming solar radiation is affected by the Sun-Earth geometry. The colors in these shortwave images show the amount of shortwave energy (in Watts per square meter) that was reflected by the Earth system. The brighter, whiter regions show where more sunlight is reflected, while green regions show intermediate values, and blue regions are lower values. The colors in the longwave images show the amount of outgoing longwave radiation leaving Earth's atmosphere (in Watts per square meter). Bright yellow and orange indicate greater heat emission, purple and blue indicate intermediate emissions, and white shows little or no heat emission. Adding the three preceeding variables gives net radiation. The colors in the net radiation images show the net radiation (in Watts per square meter) that was contained in the Earth system. The maps illustrate the fundamental imbalance between net radiation surpluses (red areas), where sunlight is direct, and net radiation deficits at higher latitudes (blue and green areas), where direct sunlight is seasonal. For More InformationSee [http://ceres.larc.nasa.gov](http://ceres.larc.nasa.gov) Related pages

The difference between how much solar energy enters the Earth system and how much heat energy escapes into space is called net radiation. Some places absorb more energy than they give off back to space, so they have an energy surplus. Other places lose more energy to space than they absorb, so they have an energy deficit. These maps show monthly net radiation from July 2006 to the present, from the Fast Longwave And Shortwave Radiative Fluxes, or FLASHFlux, Time Interpolation and Spatial Averaging (TISA) data product. The product contains daily observations collected by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) sensors on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. The colors show the net radiation (in Watts per square meter) that was contained in the Earth system. The maps illustrate the fundamental imbalance between net radiation surpluses at the equator (red areas), where sunlight is direct year-round, and net radiation deficits at high latitudes (blue areas), where direct sunlight is seasonal. Monthly net radiation maps using CERES data, July 2006 to the present. For More InformationSee [neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_NETFLUX_M](neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_NETFLUX_M) Related pages

If you look at Mars in the night sky, the planet is little more than a glowing dot. From Mars, Earth would have the same star-like appearance. What gives the planets this light? Do they shine like a star? No. The light is mostly reflected sunlight. These images show how much sunlight Earth reflects. Bright parts of Earth like snow, ice, and clouds, reflect the most light; dark surfaces, like the oceans, reflect less light. Earth's average temperature is determined by the balance between how much sunlight Earth reflects, how much it absorbs, and how much heat it gives off. These maps show monthly reflected-shortwave radiation from July 2006 to the present, from the Fast Longwave And Shortwave Radiative Fluxes, or FLASHFlux, Time Interpolation and Spatial Averaging (TISA) data product. The product contains daily observations collected by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) sensors on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. The colors in the map show the amount of shortwave energy (in Watts per square meter) that was reflected by the Earth system. The brighter, whiter regions show where more sunlight is reflected, while green regions show intermediate values, and blue regions are lower values. Monthly reflected-shortwave radiation using CERES data, 2006 to present. For More InformationSee [neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_SWFLUX_M](neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_SWFLUX_M) Related pages

Light energy travels in waves, but not all the waves are the same. The kind of light our eyes can see is only a tiny part of the energy that exists in the universe. Other kinds of energy are invisible, like the energy that makes our hands feel warm when we hold them over a fire, or the energy that cooks our food in the microwave. When Earth absorbs sunlight, it heats up. The heat, or "outgoing longwave radiation," radiates back into space. Satellites measure this radiation as it leaves the top of Earth's atmosphere. The hotter a place is, the more energy it radiates. These maps show monthly outgoing longwave radiation from July 2006 to the present, from the Fast Longwave And Shortwave Radiative Fluxes, or FLASHFlux, Time Interpolation and Spatial Averaging (TISA) data product. The product contains daily observations collected by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) sensors on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. The colors show the amount of outgoing longwave radiation leaving Earth's atmosphere (in Watts per square meter). Bright yellow and orange indicate greater heat emission, purple and blue indicate intermediate emissions, and white shows little or no heat emission. Monthly outgoing longwave radiation using CERES data, July 2006 - present. For More InformationSee [neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_LWFLUX_M](neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_LWFLUX_M) Related pages