EGU25-10896, updated on 15 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10896
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Assessing the direct aerosol impact on surface irradiance using satellite-based and surface reference data
Jörg Trentmann1, Uwe Pfeifroth1, and Martin Wild2
Jörg Trentmann et al.
  • 1Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Offenbach, Germany (joerg.trentmann@dwd.de)
  • 2Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland

The incoming surface solar radiation is an essential climate variable as defined by GCOS. Long term monitoring of this part of the earth’s energy budget is required to gain insights on the state and variability of the climate system. In addition, climate data sets of surface solar radiation have received increased attention over the recent years as an important source of information for solar energy assessments, for crop modeling, and for the validation of climate and weather models; all requiring high-quality and temporally-consistent data records.

It has been established in recent years, based on surface- and remote sensing-based data records, that surface irradiance has increased in many regions worldwide since the mid-1980, the so-called ‘global brightening’. The mechanisms behind this brightening, however, is not yet fully understood. It appears likely that changes in the atmospheric composition, mainly the aerosol loading, and possibly also atmospheric circulation have both been contributing to the global brightening.

Here we will use satellite-based data records from the CM SAF, SARAH and CLARA, which do not include an explicit treatment of the direct aerosol effect on clears-sky radiation to investigate the possible role of the aerosol on surface irradiance. Daily and monthly surface reference data (all-sky and clear-sky) are used to identify weaknesses in the satellite-based data records; aerosol information, e.g., from MERRA, are used to possibly explain these shortcomings, hence allowing to identify and to quantify the possible aerosol effect on surface irradiance.

How to cite: Trentmann, J., Pfeifroth, U., and Wild, M.: Assessing the direct aerosol impact on surface irradiance using satellite-based and surface reference data, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-10896, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10896, 2025.

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