Total solar irradiance variations: The construction of a composite and its comparison with models

Measurements of the total solar irradiance (TSI) during the last 18 years from spacecraft are reviewed. Corrections are determined for the early measurements made by the HF radiometer within the ERB experiment on NIMBUS 7 and the factor to refer active cavity radiometer irradiation monitoring (ACRIM) 2 to the ACRIM 1 irradiance scale. With these corrections, a composite TSI is constructed with a model that combines a magnetic brightness proxy with observed sunspot darkening and explains nearly 90 percent of the observed short and long term variance. Possible, but still unverified degradation of the radiometers hampers conclusions about irradiance changes on decadal time scales and longer.