The determination of the solar radiation budget at the Earth's surface from satellite measurements.

A method has been developed to determine the solar radiation budget on the ground from satellite measurements of the solar radiation reflected from the earth to space. Input data are values of the minimum albedo (i.e., planetary albedo at clear skies) and monthly averages of the planetary albedo, which were determined from radiation measurements of the satellite Nimbus 3, and accurate calculations of multiple scattering in clear and cloud atmospheres. Some results on the surface albedo, the downward solar radiation and the mean radiation flux divergence show much larger horizontal variations and structure than data derived from conventional climatological data.