Zooming into EarthCARE’s broadband radiometer first results

Offering a foretaste of what’s to come once it is fully commissioned, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has returned the first images from its broadband radiometer instrument. These initial images offer a tantalising glimpse into the intricacies of our planet’s energy balance – a delicate balance that governs our climate.

The image zooms into the Atlas Mountains with thunder clouds towering 10 km into the atmosphere. It shows the measured brightness which indicates how much solar energy is reflected back into space. The broadband radiometer’s three different viewing angles capture the clouds from slightly different positions. This is apparent in the position of the cloud shadows relative to the clouds: they seem to be north of the cloud for the forward view, east for the down view, and south for the backward view.

This combination of viewing angles is the instrument’s strength – one view only would not fully reveal the sunlight or the thermal radiation being reflected or emitted by cloud and other features. The view from multiple angles gathers information about the directional distribution of the energy that is seen at the top of the atmosphere.

Read full story: EarthCARE offers a sneak peek into Earth’s energy balance