Research

The climate on earth is determined by the equilibrium between

• the incoming solar radiation, which causes a heating of the earth.
• the reflected solar radiation, which lowers the amount of solar energy that is absorbed, and thus has a relative cooling effect.
• the thermal radiation that escapes to space in the form of inrared radiation, which has a cooling effect on the earth

The net heating of the earth is measured by the European GERB instrument from the geostationary Meteosat satellite, by the American CERES instruments from the polar Terra and Aqua, NPP and NOAA-20 satellites, and by a Chinese instrument on the FY3-C satellite. The RMIB is the centre for the processing of GERB data.