Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget

Abstract:
The GERB instrument is a scanning radiometer with two broadband channels, one covering the solar spectrum (0.32 to 4.0 micron), the other covering a wider portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (0.32 to 30 micron). Together these channels are used to derive the thermal radiation emitted by the Earth in the spectral range 4.0 to 30 micron. The GERB broadband channels span the twelve much narrower channels measured by the MSG's other instrument the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). Thus, GERB fills in the gaps in the thermal radiation spectrum missed by the SEVIRI channels. However, the GERB measures the thermal radiation at a coarser spatial resolution. RMI scientists use the finer spatial resolution of the SEVIRI data to improve the spatial resolution of the GERB images.