The prospect of a complete spectrally-resolved Earth Radiation Budget dataset from the inter-operation of new EO missions.

Climate change is a one of societies greatest challenges, needing immediate action to prevent the most damaging of irreversible consequences. But climate change is an emotive issue, where the vicissitudes of the records and uncertainty in future predictions of the climate is used by international players to politicise the debate & excuse inaction. Climate change is a theatre where an accurate, trustable record of the state of today's climate & its reaction to anthropogenic emissions can have global impact.
However, it is an exciting time in terms of monitoring of the climate & the provision of independent observational records needed to cut through the argument. Two satellite missions have recently been selected that will provide genuinely new data to inform the debate.
TRUTHS has been selected as an ESA EarthWatch mission, providing an unprecedented level of accuracy in measuring the solar-reflective domain - the energy input to the climate system, expected to be launched in 2027 with a 7-10 year mission. FORUM has also recently been selected as an ESA Earth Explorer mission, measuring the mid- far-infrared portion of the outgoing longwave emission of the climate system for the first time, expected to be launched in 2026 with a nominal lifetime of 4 years. Combined with the operational EUMETSAT IASI-NG instrument, which measures the near- to mid-IR portion of the outgoing longwave emission - in the late 2020s we will, for the first time, have a space climate observatory capable of measuring the full energetic boundary conditions of the climate system at high spectral resolution.
This project will study the impact of this unique combination of observations & the metrological methods needed to optimise the value obtained from their synergetic use.