Satellite radiation observations and climate theory

The representative applications of satellite observations of the earth radiation budget in climate studies are discussed. Consideration is given to the use of satellite observational data for validating numerical estimates of the sensitivity of longwave radiation, surface temperature, and cloud amount to changes in the radiation budget. Particular emphasis is given to the application of satellite observations to the validation of temperature estimates obtained from the NOAA Seasonal Hemispheric Zonal Average Model (SZHAM).