The Joint Total Solar Irradiance Monitor (JTSIM) onboard the Fengyun‐3E meteorological satellite has been launched successfully on 4th of July 2021. It aims at measuring the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) from the Low Earth Orbit. The instruments on the Fengyun‐3E/JTSIM include the Digital Absolute Radiometer (DARA) from the Physikalisch Meteorologisches Observatorium, Davos and World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) and the Solar Irradiance Absolute Radiometer (SIAR) from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences (CIOMP/CAS). The first light measurements and TSI value determined from DARA and SIAR are compared with other active missions (SOHO‐VIRGO,TSIS‐1).

In order to simultaneously determine the values of total solar irradiance (TSI) and the Earth’s radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) on board the Fengyun-3F satellite, a spaceborne relative radiometer (SRR) was developed. It adopts a dual-channel structure, including a solar radiometer channel (SR) with an unobstructed field of view (FOV) of 1.5° and an Earth radiometer channel (ER) with a wide field of view (WFOV) of 95.3° and a diameter of about 1900 km on the ground. Before the launch, both the SR and ER were calibrated. The SR, installed on the inner frame of the solar tracker of the SIM-II (solar irradiance monitor-II), is used to observe rapid changes in solar radiance with the SIAR (solar irradiance absolute radiometer), an electrical-substitution radiometer, on orbit. The ER is mounted on the U-shaped frame of the solar tracker, directly pointing in the nadir direction. Additionally, a dark space observation mode is used to determine the on-orbit background noise and lunar observation mode for on-orbit calibration. In this article, the instrument design and working principle of the SRR is first introduced, and an analysis of the measurement model of the ER, the WFOV channel of the SRR, is focused on. Finally, ground test results of the SRR are introduced.

This research project envisions using a lunar observation platform to measure the full-wave (0.2~100 μm) and shortwave (0.2~4.3 μm) radiation of the Earth, achieving an accurate estimation of the overall radiation budget of the Earth. Based on the lunar platform, the system analyzes Earth’s radiation characteristics and geometric attributes, as well as the sampling properties of observation times. Informed by these analyses, an Earth-facing optical radiation measurement system tailored to these specifications is designed. The optical system adopts an off-axis three-mirror configuration with a secondary image plane, incorporating a field stop at the primary image plane to effectively suppress solar stray light, scattered lunar surface light, and background radiation from the instrument itself, ensuring the satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio, detection sensitivity, and observation duration of the instrument. At the same time, stringent requirements are imposed for the surface treatments of instrument components and temperature control accuracy to further ensure accuracy. Simulation analyses confirm that the design satisfies requirements, achieving a measurement accuracy of better than 1% across the entire optical system. This Moon-based Earth-radiation measurement system, with capabilities for Earth-pointing tracking, radiation energy detection, and stray-light suppression, furnishes a more comprehensive dataset, helping to advance our understanding of the mechanisms driving global climate change

Since the late 1970s, satellite missions have monitored Total Solar Irradiance (TSI), providing a long-term record of solar variability. The Digital Absolute Radiometer (DARA), onboard the Chinese Fengyun-3E (FY3E) spacecraft since 4 July 2021, contributes to extending this record. In this study, we evaluate the DARA observations in both World Radiometric Reference (WRR) and International System of Units (SI) scales. We compare these records with those from other instruments on different spacecraft (i.e., VIRGO/PMO6, TSIS-1/TIM) and with the co-located Solar Irradiance Absolute Radiometer (SIAR) on FY3E. A key finding is the identification and correction of an instrumental artifact: an issue in the thermal aperture model, linked to annual satellite maneuvers, repetitively introduced an artificial step of 0.15 ± 0.05 Wm⁻² into the TSI measurements. A statistical analysis of the measurements in the SI scale shows that the mean value of the DARA TSI observations is approximately 1359.58 Wm⁻² (6-hourly rate), which is lower than the ones recorded by VIRGO/PMO6 (1.82 Wm⁻²), TSIS-1/TIM (2.90 Wm⁻²), and SIAR (2.54 Wm⁻²). We estimate a degradation of ∼49 ppm over 46 months due to the exposure of the instrument to the (Extreme) Ultraviolet (UV/EUV) radiations. Finally, the corrected DARA observations are incorporated into the long-term TSI composite time series. Comparison with the PMOD/WRC composite shows only marginal differences (less than 0.015 Wm⁻²), confirming the consistency and reliability of including the new TSI product (i.e., JTSIM-DARAv1).

The Moon-based Earth Radiation budget Detector (MERD) is an instrument designed to measure the Earth-reflected Solar Radiation (ERSR) and the Earth thermal radiation from the Moon as part of future mission of China's Chang'e project. The accuracy of its calibration technology directly determines the measurement precision. For traceability to International System of Units (SI) and improve the calibration accuracy in the ERSR wave band, a vacuum shortwave radiance calibration system is built, which consists of an in-situ traceable Electrical Substitution Transfer Radiometer (ESTR) and a Shortwave Calibration Light Source (SWCLS). Where, SWCLS is designed with a electrically variable slit and a 12-hole narrow-band filter wheel to achieve continuous broad-spectrum radiance output and discrete narrow-spectrum band tuning, respectively. Additionally, wide dynamic range output is from the introduction of elliptic land spherical mirrors for bilateral highly efficient focusing structure. This paper presents the mathematical process of shortwave calibration and focuses on the design and analysis of SWCLS based on high stability, radiance and uniformity. Results show that light source stability is 0.05922% / h, radiance uniformity is 99.49% at the calibration distance of 300 mm, the range of output radiant brightness in the spectral range 0.3-2.5 μm is 0.03-1272.20 W/m²/sr.

A space based relative radiometer has been developed and applied to the PICARD mission. It has successfully measured 37 months solar radiation, terrestrial outgoing radiation, and a comparable interannual variation in Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) is inferred from those measurements [1]. However, since the BOS (Bolometric Oscillation Sensor [2]) relative radiometer is originally designed to measure the solar irradiance with 10 seconds high cadence comparing to the absolute radiometer. The high dynamic range of BOS limits its performance to track the Earth’s outgoing radiation in terms of instantaneous field-of-view (iFOV) and the absolute radiation level. Two relative radiometers (RR) will be developed for JTSIM/FY-3F. One is the solar channel relative radiometer aimed to measure the solar irradiance side by side with the cavity solar irradiance absolute radiometer (SIAR). The second RR is acting as a non-scanner instrument to measure the Earth’s outgoing radiation. Comparing to the design of PICRD-BOS. Each RR has included an aperture, for the solar channel it limits its Unobstructed Field of View (UFOV) to about 1.5 degree and for the Earth channel to about 110 degrees, respectively. We also test the possibility to use the Carbon Nanotube coating on the main detector. In this presentation, the design of the earth channel relative radiometer (ERR) will be introduced, including the aperture design, dynamic range and the active temperature control system. The preliminary laboratory test result of the ERR will be discussed in the end.[1] P. Zhu, M. Wild, M. van Ruymbeke, G. Thuillier, M. Meftah, and Ö. Karatekin. Interannual variation of global net radiation flux as measured from space. J. Geophys. Res. doi:10.1002/2015JD024112, 121:6877–6891, 2016.[2] P. Zhu, M.van Ruymbeke, Ö. Karatekin, J.-P.Noël, G. Thuillier, S. Dewitte, A. Chevalier, C. Conscience, E. Janssen, M. Meftah, and A. Irbah. A high dynamic radiation measurement instrument: the bolometric oscillation sensor (bos). Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 4,89-98,:doi:10.5194/gi–4–89–2015, 2015.Acknowledgement: this work is partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 41974207 and CSC Scholarship No.202004910181