Initial In-flight Results: The Total Solar Irradiance Monitor on the FY-3C Satellite, an Instrument with a Pointing System

Abstract

The total solar irradiance (TSI) has been recorded daily since October 2013 by the Total Solar Irradiance Monitor (TSIM) onboard the FY-3C satellite, which is mainly designed for Earth observation. The TSIM has a pointing system to perform solar tracking using a sun sensor. The TSI is measured by two electrical substitution radiometers with traceability to the World Radiation Reference. The TSI value measured with the TSIM on 2 October 2013 is 1364.88 Wm−² with an uncertainty of 1.08 Wm−². Short-term TSI variations recorded with the TSIM show good agreement with SOHO/VIRGO and SORCE/TIM. The data quality and accuracy of FY-3C/TSIM are much better than its predecessors on the FY-3A and FY-3B satellites, which operated in a scanning mode.