A Comprehensive Evaluation of Three Global Surface Longwave Radiation Products

Abstract

Surface longwave radiation is sensitive to climate change on Earth. This study first comprehensively evaluates the accuracies of surface longwave upward radiation (SLUR) and surface longwave downward radiation (SLDR) among the mainstream surface longwave (LW) radiation products (GLASS, CERES SYN and ERA5); then, the global annual mean values of surface LW radiation as well as its temporal variations from 2003 to 2020 are quantified. The ERA5 SLUR and SLDR show the best accuracies by direct validation, with biases/Stds/RMSEs of −1.05/18.34/18.37 W/m2 and −9.41/24.15/25.92 W/m2, respectively. The GLASS SLUR has the best accuracy under clear-sky conditions with a bias/Std/RMSE of −6.73/14.21/15.72 W/m2. The accuracy of the GLASS SLDR is comparable to CERES SYN. The merit of the GLASS LW radiation is that it can provide rich spatial details due to its high spatial resolution. The global annual mean SLUR is 399.77/398.92/398.19 W/m2, and that of the SLDR is 342.64/347.98/340.47 W/m2 for GLASS, CERES SYN and ERA5, respectively. The interannual variation trends for the three products produce substantially growing long-term trends for the global mean SLUR and SDLR over the globe and land, while there are almost no trends over the ocean. The long-term trends of the seasonal mean SLUR and SDLR in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are asymmetrical. Our comprehensive evaluation and trend analysis of the mainstream surface LW radiation products can aid in understanding the global energy balance and climate change.