Evaluation of CERES and CloudSat Surface Radiative Fluxes Over Macquarie Island, the Southern Ocean

A recent evaluation of satellite-derived radiative fluxes over Macquarie Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Southern Ocean, reveals significant biases in global climate models. The study found that the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and CloudSat retrievals underestimated shortwave radiation reflected back to space while overestimating surface-reaching longwave radiation, with annual mean biases of +10 W/m² for shortwave and -10 W/m² for longwave. These discrepancies, particularly pronounced at night due to poor cloud base representation, suggest that climate models may underestimate the Southern Ocean's radiative effects more than previously thought. The findings, based on surface observations from the Macquarie Island Cloud and Radiation Experiment (MICRE), highlight critical gaps in satellite data validation over this remote region.

Hinkelman, L. M., & Marchand, R. (2020). Evaluation of CERES and CloudSat Surface Radiative Fluxes Over Macquarie Island, the Southern Ocean. Earth and Space Science, 7(9). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020ea001224