Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) is a NASA-sponsored satellite mission that measures incoming X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation. These measurements specifically address long-term climate change, natural variability and enhanced climate prediction, and atmospheric ozone and UV-B radiation. These measurements are critical to studies of the Sun, its effect on our Earth system and its influence on humankind. The SORCE spacecraft launched on January 25, 2003 on a Pegasus XL launch vehicle to provide NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) with precise measurements of solar radiation. SORCE measures the Sun's output using
Simple Model of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer of Sunshine (for diffuse or global radiation) at any instant. Besides the atmospheric conditions, another important input is the solar geometry, which can be defined by the sun position (zenith angle and azimuth), the air mass, or by specifying the date, time and location. Optional calculations include the circumsolar irradiance, illuminance components, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) components, and irradiance calculations in the UV, involving a variety of action spectra (such as that corresponding to the erythema). The program outputs its results to text files, which can be further imported and processed into spreadsheets. A graphic interface, providing plots of the calculated spectra