BSRN

Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) is an international network of ground-based stations that provide high-precision measurements of surface radiation to support climate research and related applications. The network aims to supply long-term, high-quality data on the full surface radiation budget, enabling robust analysis of solar and terrestrial radiation components.

Established in the 1990s under the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), BSRN is coordinated globally by the World Radiation Monitoring Center (WRMC) at PMOD/WRC in Davos, Switzerland, with involvement from national meteorological services and research institutions. The network emphasizes standardized procedures and calibration practices to ensure consistency across sites and over time.

BSRN records key components of the surface radiation budget, including global horizontal irradiance, direct normal irradiance, diffuse horizontal irradiance, and longwave net radiation. Measurements rely on standardized instrumentation, such as pyranometers, pyrheliometers, net radiometers, and spectroradiometers, and are calibrated and maintained to traceability with the World Radiometric Reference (WRR).

Data management includes rigorous quality control, homogenization, and comprehensive metadata documentation. High-quality data are archived at the WRMC and are made available to the research community through the BSRN data portal and related repositories.

BSRN data are used to support climate monitoring and research, validate and calibrate satellite-derived radiation products, improve radiative transfer models, and assist solar energy assessments. The network also supports efforts to understand regional climate processes and contributes to global climate data records.