Surface radiation budget research for GCIP and LBA: Similarities and differences

Information on radiative fluxes is required for advancing the understanding of the role of water in land-atmosphere interactions. Over extanded areas, only satellites can provide the necessary coverage. In a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland, NOAA/NESDIS, and NCEP, capabilities have been developed to infer this information from the GOES satellites over the United States, in support of the GEWEX Continental-scale International Project (GCIP). Presently, radiative fluxes are derived in real time, and provided to the public via the Web. Similar information is needed in support of the hydrological modeling efforts of the LBA project. New activities are underway to improve capabilities to derive surface radiative fluxes in support of LBA, by incorporating unique conditions that exist over the Amazon Basin, in particular, in respect to deforestation and biomass burning; implement these improved methodologies at spatial and temporal scales of interest to the LBA hydrological and ecological modeling community. The "ground truth" on surface radiative fluxes for validation will be collected by independent investigators and used to test the algorithms in this unique environment. Progress made will be discussed and potentials for transferability studies between GCIP and LBA will be explored.