Abstract

‘The Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instruments flying on the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) series of satellites provide a unique tool with which to monitor the diurnally resolved evolution of the top of atmosphere broad-band radiation fields. In addition, coincident narrow band observations from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) instruments, also flying on the MSG platforms, can be used to provide information about the key atmospheric parameters that influence these broad-band radiative fluxes. One such parameter is Saharan dust, with snapshot aircraft observations taken under heavy dust loadings indicating a radiative perturbation that can exceed 100 W m-2. In this talk I will provide a brief introduction to the satellite instruments before describing a relatively simple approach that has been developed to identify and quantify Saharan dust loading over North Africa and Arabia using SEVIRI observations. I will then describe how this information can be used, in conjunction with the GERB measurements, to simultaneously diagnose the longwave dust direct radiative effect and provide examples of both quantities for an extended period through spring and summer 2006.