Abstract. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR) onboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) provides continuous full-disk global broadband irradiance measurements over most of the sunlit side of the Earth. The three active cavity radiometers measure the total radiant energy from the sunlit side of the Earth in shortwave (SW; 0.2–4 µm), total (0.4–100 µm), and near-infrared (NIR; 0.7–4 µm) channels. The Level 1 NISTAR dataset provides the filtered radiances (the ratio between irradiance and solid angle). To determine the daytime top-of-atmosphere (TOA) shortwave and longwave radiative fluxes, the NISTAR-measured shortwave radiances must be unfiltered first. An unfiltering algorithm was developed for the NISTAR SW and NIR channels using a spectral radiance database calculated for typical Earth scenes. The resulting unfiltered NISTAR radiances are then converted to full-disk daytime SW and LW flux by accounting for the anisotropic characteristics of the Earth-reflected and emitted radiances. The anisotropy factors are determined using scene identifications determined from multiple low-Earth orbit and geostationary satellites as well as the angular distribution models (ADMs) developed using data collected by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES). Global annual daytime mean SW fluxes from NISTAR are about 6 % greater than those from CERES, and both show strong diurnal variations with daily maximum–minimum differences as great as 20 Wm−2 depending on the conditions of the sunlit portion of the Earth. They are also highly correlated, having correlation coefficients of 0.89, indicating that they both capture the diurnal variation. Global annual daytime mean LW fluxes from NISTAR are 3 % greater than those from CERES, but the correlation between them is only about 0.38.

To implement the detector-based radiometric scale in the new Medium Background Infrared (MBIR) facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), we have developed an electrical substitution cavity radiometer that can be operated just above liquid nitrogen temperature. This MBIR Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR) utilizes a temperature-controlled receiver cone and an independently temperature-controlled heat sink. Being a thermal-type detector, low noise and drift of the radiometer signal depends mainly on low-noise temperature control of the receiver and heat sink. Using high critical-temperature (T c) superconducting thin film temperature sensors in the active control loops, we have achieved closed-loop temperature controllability of better than 10 µK at 89 K for a receiver having an open-loop thermal time constant of about 75 seconds. For a flux level of 1 µW to 10 µW, the rms noise floor over a measurement cycle time is below 20 nW. This is the lowest noise level yet reported for a liquid nitrogen cooled electrical-substitution radiometer, and it is the first demonstration of the use of high-T c superconductors in such a radiometer. Potential uses for this ACR in the MBIR facility include absolute measurement of the broadband radiance of large-area 300 K cryogenic blackbody sources, and absolute measurement of the spectral radiance of laser-illuminated integrating spheres for improved relative spectral responsivity measurements of infrared transfer standard radiometers.

The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) 3U CubeSat mission is a pathfinder to demonstrate technologies for the measurement of Earth’s radiation budget, the quantification of which is critical for predicting the future course of climate change. A specific motivation is the need for lower-cost technology alternatives that could be used for multi-point constellation measurements of Earth outgoing radiation. RAVAN launched 11 November 2016, into a nearly 600-km, Sun-synchronous orbit, and collected data for over 20 months. RAVAN successfully demonstrates two key technologies. The first is the use of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) as absorbers in broadband radiometers for measuring Earth’s outgoing radiation and the total solar irradiance. VACNT forests are arguably the blackest material known and have an extremely flat spectral response over a wide wavelength range, from the ultraviolet to the far infrared. As radiometer absorbers, they have greater sensitivity for a given time constant and are more compact than traditional cavity absorbers. The second technology demonstrated is a pair of gallium phase-change black body cells that are used as a stable reference to monitor the degradation of RAVAN’s radiometer sensors on orbit. Four radiometers (two VACNT, two cavity), the pair of gallium black bodies, and associated electronics are accommodated in the payload of an agile 3U CubeSat bus that allows for routine solar and deep-space attitude maneuvers, which are essential for calibrating the Earth irradiance measurements. The radiometers show excellent long-term stability over the course of the mission and a high correlation between the VACNT and cavity radiometer technologies. Short-term variability—at greater than the tenths-of-a-Watt/m2 needed for climate accuracy—is a challenge that remains, consistent with insufficient thermal knowledge and control on a 3U CubeSat. There are also VACNT–cavity biases of 3% and 6% in the Total and SW channels, respectively, which would have to be overcome in a future mission. Although one of the black bodies failed after four months, the other provided a repeatable standard for the duration of the project. We present representative measurements from the mission and demonstrate how the radiometer time series can be used to reconstruct outgoing radiation spatial information. Improvements to the technology and approach that would lead to better performance and greater accuracy in future missions are discussed.

Spin-resolved superelastic electron scattering from sodium has been measured at total energies of 10 and 40 eV, for scattering angler between 10' and 140". The angular momentum transfer, L,, and the spin-resolved components L l and L: have been determined. The ratio, r, of triplet to singlet differential cross sections has also been found. The data are compared to theoretical calculations baaed on close-coupling and distorted-wave models. The spin-averaged L, and triplet L: show good agreement with close-coupling theory while the singlet L: and the ratio I are poorly predicted.

NISTAR, aboard the DSCOVR spacecraft, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's energy budget instruments designed to measure the seasonal changes in Earth's total outgoing radiation from a unique vantage point at the Lagrangian L‐1 point a million miles from Earth. Global radiation energy balance measurements are important constraints for climate models, but are difficult measurements to quantify. CERES data offer the best current observational constraints, but need extensive modeling to get global energy. NISTAR observes the entire dayside hemisphere of the Earth as a single pixel, splitting the shortwave radiation into broadband visible and near‐infrared components (analogous to the narrowband spectral ratios used to define vegetation indices). This spectral partitioning at the 0.7‐μm vegetation red edge offers unique constraints on climate model spectral treatment of cloud and surface albedos. Moreover, NISTAR's unique viewing geometry amounts to observing the Earth as an exoplanet, which opens a new perspective on exoplanet observations.