EOS Validation Program

Institution: National Center for Atmospheric Research
                    P.O. Box 3000
                    Boulder, CO 80307-3000
Phone: (303) 497-1381
FAX: (303) 497-1324
E-mail: wcollins@ucar.edu

June 1999 (Appendices: Poster, Abstract)
June 2000
Final Report, September 2001

The surface radiation budget (SRB) produced by CERES for the tropical Indian Ocean will be evaluated using long-term observations collected during the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX). The observations are part of a multi-year effort to monitor the surface radiation budget and aerosol properties on the Maldives islands and the surrounding ocean. The set of radiometric instruments to be deployed fulfills almost all the requirements for a Class-2 surface monitoring site for regional climate trends as defined by the CERES SRB validation plan. Since there are very few existing sites in the tropical Indian Ocean for radiometric or aerosol observations, the data from INDOEX provides a unique opportunity to validate the CERES SRB in this region. Preliminary field measurements suggests that the surface insolation on the Maldives should be significantly affected by natural and anthropogenic aerosols from the Indian subcontinent.

The main objectives of the proposed research are:

• Comparison and evaluation of the CERES SRB against long-term surface radiometric observations from INDOEX;
• Analysis of systematic differences between the SRB and flux measurements using coincident data on aerosol optical depth, composition, and absorptivity; and
• Analysis of systematic differences between the time-interpolated SRB and flux measurements using geosynchronous satellite imagery collected especially for INDOEX.