Surface Energy Budget Network

The Air Resources Laboratory cooperates with NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory to measure fluxes of energy, water, and carbon dioxide at the air-land interface to improve understanding of the Earth's surface energy balance. It is this balance that drives weather, climate, and ocean circulation, and therefore must be accurately reproduced in climate models in order for decision-makers to make sound choices regarding environmental and economic policy. Accurate understanding and simulation of this balance is also important for weather prediction, including short-term and seasonal predictions of water resources.

The Surface Energy Budget Network (SEBN) is a consolidation of several independent but closely related observing systems into a single, cost-effective and efficient network. SEBN seeks to explain why climate variables (e.g., air temperature, precipitation) have changed. Data, which includes the input of moisture and heat to the atmosphere, are used by NOAA scientists to provide detailed examination of the land-surface feedbacks and related radiative processes that can drive regional climate and to improve weather predictions. Currently, NOAA has seven SEBN stations in operation with a plan that calls for an additional thirteen stations to cover representative eco-regions (forests, grasslands, crops, etc) in the U.S.

For More Information:

• Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division's SEBN Studies