Workshops
2nd GEWEX Earth’s Energy Imbalance Assessment Workshop
June 1 – 5, 2026, 8:30am – 5:00pm, Pacific Time Zone (PT)
Pasadena, CA, USA (hybrid)
Abstract submission – opens in November
Registration (free!) – opens in January
About this workshop
The Earth’s Energy Imbalance (EEI) is the difference between Earth’s absorbed solar radiation and Earth’s thermal radiation emitted at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). Integrated over the globe and over multiple years, the EEI provides an estimate of the net energy gain or loss to space by the Earth system. Over the last several decades, EEI has been positive and increasing. The current EEI represents a measure of excess energy stored in the Earth system in response to natural and anthropogenic forcings.
Measuring and understanding EEI, its time variability, and long-term trend is essential to understanding the current state of our planet and predicting its future evolution. Under its Data and Analysis Panel (GDAP), the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP) core project Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) initiated the “Earth Energy Imbalance assessment”. The GEWEX-EEI assessment’s objective is to evaluate the quality and the uncertainty of current EEI estimates. It focuses mainly on two sources of data: 1) observations of the TOA radiative fluxes from space radiometry and 2) observations of the ocean heat content from in situ data, satellite altimetry, space gravimetry and ocean reanalysis. The surplus energy is not entirely stored in the ocean, about 9% of the energy is stored in other components of the Earth system such as the cryosphere, the continents and the atmosphere. These other energy stores are also evaluated in the framework of the assessment.
The approach adopted in the GEWEX-EEI assessment is to design an intercomparison of EEI estimates and associated uncertainty. This intercomparison enables progress on:
- Assessing the quality of different EEI records
- Understanding the sources of uncertainty in different EEI estimates
- Understanding the causes for the spread in EEI estimates
- Quantifying and understanding EEI time variability including trends
- Improving regional earth energy and heat uptake estimates
Main Goals for this workshop:
- Assess closure of Earth’s energy budget from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean.
- Advance our understanding of the causes of ocean heat content and energy balance variations.
- Explain the spread across EEI estimates; derive and recommend methods that reduce and quantify EEI uncertainty.
- Identify gaps, challenges and opportunities for the EEI observing system of the future.
EEI assessment Workshop Themes include:
Theme 1: Science of Earth's Energy Imbalance
Theme 2: Advances in global and regional estimation of ocean heat content
Theme 3: Earth radiation at the TOA, surface and in the atmosphere
Theme 4: Earth’s heat inventory – deep ocean, land, atmosphere and cryosphere
Theme 5: Energy and Water Cycle Linkages and their impact on EEI
Theme 6: Future Ocean, ERB & EEI Observing Systems
Here you can find the recommendations and workshop report of the 1st GEWEX Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment Workshop: https://www.wcrp-esa-eeia-2023.org/workshop-report
Meeting Logistics
Venue: TBDDates: June 1-5, 2026, 8:30am – 5:00pm, Pacific Time Zone (PT), exact times TBC.
Format: hybrid
Airports: Burbank-Hollywood Airport (BUR) is the closest airport to Pasadena. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the main airport in the county.
Accommodation tips: TBD
Local area information: TBD
