Research
The sun and our climate
The solar irradiance which reaches our planet varies in sympathy with the eleven year activity cycle of the sun. Eleven year variations of the order of 1 W/m2 cause temperature variations of the order of 0.1 °C.
At the RMIB we build our own space instruments for the measurements of the solar irradiance, with a first flight on Spacelab in 1983. We have a currently active DIARAD/VIRGO instrument on the SOHO satellite, this provides measurements of high quality since 1996.
Total Solar irradiance
