From opportunity to continuity: a CubeSat implementation to enhance Earth's radiation budget observations from space

A. Hawkins, McKenzie; Watwood, Matthew; van den Heever, Mathew; Pilewskie, Peter; Harber, Dave

doi:10.5194/amt-19-6229-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6229-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6229-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 19

Research article

|

02 Oct 2026

Research article |

| 02 Oct 2026

From opportunity to continuity: a CubeSat implementation to enhance Earth's radiation budget observations from space

McKenzie A. Hawkins, Matthew Watwood, Mathew van den Heever, Peter Pilewskie, and Dave Harber

Data sets

CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Terra-FM2 Edition4A Loeb et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/TERRA/CERES/SSF-FM2_L2.004A

CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Aqua-FM3 Edition4A Loeb et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/AQUA/CERES/SSF-FM3_L2.004A

CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols NOAA20-FM6-VIIRS Edition1C Loeb et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/NOAA20/CERES/SSF-FM6_L2.001C

CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Terra-FM1 Edition4A Loeb et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/TERRA/CERES/SSF_Terra-FM1_L2.004A

CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Aqua-FM4 Edition4A Loeb et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/AQUA/CERES/SSF-FM4_L2.004A

Model code and software

mckenziehawkins/CTIM-CERES: v1.0 Initial release accompanying AMT submission M. Hawkins https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22879730

Short summary

Continuous monitoring of Earth's energy balance from space is essential for understanding climate change. Beyond the next planned mission, continuity of these observations remains uncertain. Earth-viewing observations from a CubeSat designed to observe the Sun were compared to established Earth-observing instruments, showing close agreement. Results suggest CubeSats could reduce the risk of gaps in long-term records and that solar-monitoring instruments could be designed to observe Earth, too.