Radiation balance and the variability of atmospheric and surface properties

The variability in time and space of parameters relevant to the radiation balance of the Earth-atmosphere system is treated. There is a need for global observations of the local radiative properties of the atmosphere and their variability. Satellites provide a unique possibility to study globally the variability of meteorological fields. The data should be treated in a way that makes the variability of the observables more evident or relates them directly to dynamic processes. Meteorological fields derived from satellite measurements are already applied to verify the results of a several-day integration. Until now, comparisons between model-produced cloud fields and satellite measurements give only marginal agreement.