The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment: Science and implementation

This paper gives an overview of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. The experiment consists of scanning and nonscanning radiometer packages on three spacecraft. One is a satellite with a 57° inclination orbit which processes around the earth once every 2 months. Packages are also flown on the sun‐synchronous NOAA‐F and NOAA‐G operational meteorological satellites. The scanning radiometer includes three channels: shortwave, long‐wave, and total. The nonscanner package encompasses a pair of wide‐field‐of‐view radiometers and a pair of medium‐field‐of‐view radiometers. Each pair consists of a total and a shortwave radiometer. The scientific importance and objectives of the mission are described, including the need for the three spacecraft and the utility of the complementary types of radiometers.