Earth ID: 30369

Monthly Net Radiation

Released on October 24, 2013

There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30604

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.

Newer Version

For More Information

http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html?datasetId=CERES_NETFLUX_M

Credits

Marit Jentoft-Nilsen: Visualizer
Jesse Allen (Sigma Space Corporation): Visualizer

Based on imagery by Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory, based on FLASHFlux data. FLASHFlux data are produced using CERES observations convolved with MODIS measurements from both the Terra and Aqua satellite. Data provided by the FLASHFlux team, NASA Langley Research Center.

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30369

Missions:
Aqua
Terra

Data Used:

Terra/CERES

The CERES instrument aboard many Earth-orbiting satellites records the flow of reflected Solar radiation and reprocessed longwave radiation in the Earth's radiation budget.

view all stories where this data set is used

Aqua/CERES/Net Radiant Flux

view all stories where this data set is used

Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
NASA Earth Observations

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Radiation budget
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Radiation >> Net Radiation
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Presentation

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0