The European Space Agency will be hosting an invite-only, in-person workshop on the Earth’s Radiation Budget on the 23-26 February 2027 at the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Harwell, UK. The meeting will start and end at lunchtime.

The workshop aims to discuss the outstanding scientific questions, sensing capabilities and products available to assess the Earth's Radiation Budget (ERB). Through a complement of keynote talks and ample discussion time, the meeting will review best practices, current capabilities and user needs for satellite-based ERB data records.

The workshop session themes are:

  • Top of Atmosphere (TOA) Radiation Budget
  • Surface Atmosphere Radiation Budget
  • Cloud Radiative Response
  • Aerosol Radiative Forcing
  • Climate Model Evaluation
  • ERB products supporting climate policy
  • ERB products in commercial applications

Each session will feature two invited presentations: one outlining the topic’s role for understanding the climate system, including outstanding scientific research questions, and the other reviewing current observational capabilities, including key gaps and limitations. The session will then open to discussion on how to address knowledge gaps and strengthen observational capabilities. The workshop aims to sketch the contours of possible future missions and identify the scientific pathways and datasets needed for further study, to answer research questions and meet end user needs. Status updates from recent and upcoming satellite missions (e.g., EarthCARE, LIBERA etc.) will also be presented in a poster presentation as a complement to the session discussions.

NOTE: the workshop will address terrestrial outgoing fluxes only, not incoming solar radiation monitoring requirements.

More details to come soon.

Scientific Steering Committee

  • Benoit Meyssignac, CNES/LEGOS, France
  • Helen Brindley, Met Office, UK
  • Hirohiko Masunaga, Nagoya University, Japan
  • Maria Hakub, NASA, USA
  • Norman Loeb, NASA, USA

ESA Organising Steering Committee

  • Thomas August, EOP-SMA
  • Ed Malina, EOP-SGS
  • Michael Eisinger, EOP-SCA
  • Sarah Connors, EOP-SCA