Radiation Budget Mission Trading Card

The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) was designed to collect data about sunlight reaching the Earth, sunlight reflected by the Earth, and heat released by the Earth into space.

ERBE used three satellites to carry the instruments to collect this data: NOAA-9, NOAA-10, and ERBS. Other missions focusing on the radiation budget include Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) with a planned lifecycle from 1997-2015. Missions such as ERBE and CERES are important because any changes in the radiation budget may cause changes in the Earth's climate.

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) developed instrumentation for accurate regional and global measurements of the radiation budget components. An international team of scientists participated in the design and development of ERBE. Experts at LaRC developed the ERBE instrument with specifications for scanner and non-scanner instruments. The ERBE Data Management Team designed and developed the data processing system.

• Instrument images: NOAA-9, NOAA-10 | ERBS | CERES.
• Clouds and Radiation.
• View the ERBE Quicktime movie illustrating the Earth Radiation Budget Mission!
  (see Notes on how to view the ERBE Quicktime Movie).