Open AccessAchieving satellite instrument calibration for climate change
Author(s) -
Ohring George,
Tansock Joe,
Emery William,
Butler James,
Flynn Lawrence,
Weng Fuzhong,
Germain Karen St.,
Wielicki Bruce,
Cao Changyong,
Goldberg Mitchell,
Xiong Jack,
Fraser Gerald,
Kunkee David,
Winker David,
Miller Laury,
Ungar Stephen,
Tobin David,
Anderson James G.,
Pollock David,
Shipley Scott,
Thurgood Alan,
Kopp Greg,
Ardanuy Philip,
Stone Tom
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2007eo110015
Subject(s) - satellite , environmental science , climatology , baseline (sea) , climate change , climate model , radiometer , meteorology , term (time) , climate system , remote sensing , geography , geology , oceanography , physics , quantum mechanics , aerospace engineering , engineering
For the most part, satellite observations of climate are not presently sufficiently accurate to establish a climate record that is indisputable and hence capable of determining whether and at what rate the climate is changing. Furthermore, they are insufficient for establishing a baseline for testing long‐term trend predictions of climate models. Satellite observations do provide a clear picture of the relatively large signals associated with interannual climate variations such as El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and they have also been used to diagnose gross inadequacies of climate models, such as their cloud generation schemes. However, satellite contributions to measuring long‐term change have been limited and, at times, controversial, as in the case of differing atmospheric temperature trends derived from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) microwave radiometers.