# Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget
*sensor . products*

MSG broadband visible-infrared radiometer for top-of-atmosphere reflected solar and thermal radiation budget measurements.

## Specifications
- **manufacturer**: eumetsat
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **product status**: operational
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"passive-optical","measurement_principle":"passive","spectral_range_nm":{"min":320,"max":30000},"spectral_band_count":2,"spec_disclosure":"disclosed"}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-15
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: unclaimed
- **provider**: eumetsat
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","manufacturer":"eumetsat","description":"MSG broadband visible-infrared radiometer for top-of-atmosphere reflected solar and thermal radiation budget measurements.","deployment_context":"orbital","product_status":"operational","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"passive-optical\",\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":320,\"max\":30000},\"spectral_band_count\":2,\"spec_disclosure\":\"disclosed\"}"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
The Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) is a two-channel broadband radiometer designed to measure top-of-atmosphere reflected solar and thermal radiation from geostationary orbit.[^esa-msg-facts][^ral-space-gerb] Its shortwave channel covers approximately 0.32 to 4.0 micrometres, capturing reflected solar radiation; its total broadband channel spans from approximately 0.32 micrometres into the far infrared, measuring the combined solar and thermal emission.[^eoportal-msg]

GERB operates at coarser spatial sampling than its co-flying companion SEVIRI, with pixel dimensions of approximately 44.6 km (north-south) by 39.3 km (east-west) at nadir.[^eoportal-msg] Each full Earth disc scene is acquired in approximately 2.5 minutes, and observations are synchronised with SEVIRI's 15-minute imaging cycle.[^eoportal-msg] The instrument mass is approximately 25 kg with an average power draw of approximately 35 W.[^eoportal-msg]

GERB instruments have been carried on MSG-1 (Meteosat-8, hosting GERB-2), MSG-2 (Meteosat-9, hosting GERB-1), and MSG-3 (Meteosat-10, hosting GERB-3).[^esa-msg-facts][^eoportal-msg] GERB-3 on MSG-3 experienced an anomaly in 2013 that placed it in safe mode; its current operational status is uncertain.[^ral-space-gerb] GERB-4 was included on MSG-4 (Meteosat-11) but had not been activated as of the instrument's last documented status.[^wikipedia-gerb] GERB supports broadband radiometry for Earth radiation budget science and climate monitoring.

## Compositional position
- meteosat-10 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget
- meteosat-11 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget

## Sources
- [eoportal-msg] | Meteosat Second Generation, eoPortal | https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/m/meteosat-second-generation | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-15
- [esa-msg-facts] | Meteosat Second Generation Facts and Figures, ESA | https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Meteorological_missions/Meteosat/Meteosat_Second_Generation_Facts_and_Figures | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-15
- [ral-space-gerb] | Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB), RAL Space | https://www.ralspace.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/GEostationary-Earth-Radiation-Budget-(GERB).aspx | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-06-15
- [wikipedia-gerb] | Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget, Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_Earth_Radiation_Budget | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-15
- [eumetsat-msg-instruments] | Meteosat Second Generation instruments, EUMETSAT | https://www.eumetsat.int/meteosat-second-gen-instruments | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-15

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/gerb
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)