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Surface radiation budget data are presented for the midseasonal months of July and October of 1983 and January and April of 1984. These data allow examination for the first time of geographical and seasonal variations of the entire surface radiation budget from pole to pole. The latest flux estimation techniques have been used along with data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Regional, zonal, and hemispheric distributions of the downward and net components of both shortwave and longwave fluxes and of the net total surface fluxes are determined. Seasonal flux variation per region, expressed as flux range, is illustrated for these components also. The estimated fluxes appear to be accurate to about 16 W m−2 on a global average, based on sensitivity analyses and comparisons with ground data. An analysis of flux errors showed that most of the error was attributable to errors in input data.

Shortwave radiative fluxes that reach the earth's surface are key factors that influence atmospheric and oceanic circulations as well as surface climate. Yet, information on these fluxes is meager. Surface site data are generally available from only a limited number of observing stations over land. Much less is known about the largescale variability of the shortwave radiative fluxes over the oceans, which cover most of the globe. Recognizing the need to produce global-scale fields of such fluxes for use in climate research, the World Climate Research Program has initiated activities that led to the establishment of the Surface Radiation Budget Climatology Project with the ultimate goal to determine various components of the surface radiation budget from satellite data. In this paper, the first global products that resulted from this activity are described. Monthly and daily data on a 280-km grid scale are available. Samples of climate parameters obtainable from the dataset are presented. Emphasis is given to validation and limitations of the results. For most of the globe, satellite estimates have bias values between ±20 W rrr 2 and rms values are around 25 W nrr 2. There are specific regions with much larger uncertainties however.

This paper presents a stewardship maturity assessment model in the form of a matrix for digital environmental datasets. Nine key components are identified based on requirements imposed on digital environmental data and information that are cared for and disseminated by U.S. Federal agencies by U.S. law, i.e., Information Quality Act of 2001, agencies' guidance, expert bodies' recommendations, and users. These components include: preservability, accessibility, usability, production sustainability, data quality assurance, data quality control/monitoring, data quality assessment, transparency/traceability, and data integrity. A five-level progressive maturity scale is then defined for each component associated with measurable practices applied to individual datasets, representing Ad Hoc, Minimal, Intermediate, Advanced, and Optimal stages. The rationale for each key component and its maturity levels is described. This maturity model, leveraging community best practices and standards, provides a unified framework for assessing scientific data stewardship. It can be used to create a stewardship maturity scoreboard of dataset(s) and a roadmap for scientific data stewardship improvement or to provide data quality and usability information to users, stakeholders, and decision makers.

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