Examination of the Relationship between Outgoing Infrared Window and Total Longwave Fluxes Using Satellite Data

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Abstract
The relationship between narrowband and broadband thermal radiances is explored to determine the accuracy of outgoing longwave radiation derived from narrowband data. Infrared window (10.2–12.2 μm) data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) are correlates with longwave (5.0–50.0 μm) data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)- A simple quadratic fit between the narrowband and longwave fluxes results in standard errors of 4.4%–5.3% for data that are matched closely in time and space. The use of matched regional flux data with temporal differences up to 59 minutes yields standard errors of 4.1%–5.4%. About 30% of the error may be attributed to limb darkening and spatial and temporal differences in the matched fluxes. The relationship shows a statistically significant dependence on the relative humidity of the atmosphere above the radiating surface. Although this dependency accounts for only about 1% of the standard error, it reduces the monthly mean regional e... Abstract The relationship between narrowband and broadband thermal radiances is explored to determine the accuracy of outgoing longwave radiation derived from narrowband data. Infrared window (10.2–12.2 μm) data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) are correlates with longwave (5.0–50.0 μm) data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)- A simple quadratic fit between the narrowband and longwave fluxes results in standard errors of 4.4%–5.3% for data that are matched closely in time and space. The use of matched regional flux data with temporal differences up to 59 minutes yields standard errors of 4.1%–5.4%. About 30% of the error may be attributed to limb darkening and spatial and temporal differences in the matched fluxes. The relationship shows a statistically significant dependence on the relative humidity of the atmosphere above the radiating surface. Although this dependency accounts for only about 1% of the standard error, it reduces the monthly mean regional e...

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