On Thursday 12 December the Meteosat Second Generation satellite (MSG-1) took the first measurements with its innovative Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument.

GERB will enable experts to study the Earth’s radiation budget, this is the balance between the radiation coming from the Sun and the outgoing reflected and scattered solar radiation from the Earth into space; it is also able to measure thermal infrared emissions. This is an important gauge for studying global warming and the greenhouse effect.

The first images from GERB shown below identify the likely areas where there is a net gain or loss of energy in our climate system. GERB is a scanning radiometer, which uses two broad band channels. One is sensitive to the Earth’s total outgoing radiation (image on the left) and the other covering only a short waveband (right hand image). The difference between these two channels can be used to provide an estimate of the energy radiating from the Earth out into space.

By using GERB to monitor the influence of solar radiation on our atmosphere scientists hope to gain a greater understanding of the complexity of our climate. When this is used in conjunction with SEVIRI, the main imager on MSG-1 scientists will be able to study the effect of clouds or water vapour on the radiation balance, which in turn will impact on future climate models.

The development of GERB was initiated by the European Space Agency and taken forward by an international team headed by Professor J Harries of Imperial College, London. The instrument was funded by a European Consortium led by the UK “>