The authors investigate the facular contribution to the total solar irradiance, using the daily active cavity radiometer irradiance monitor (ACRIM) radiometry for 1980 - 1982 and the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) radiometry for 1978 - 1982. A cross-correlation analysis of the total irradiance, the UV flux measured by Nimbus 7 and calculated contributions from observed sunspot and facular areas is presented. It is found that the solar irradiance records, after subtraction of the calculated sunspot-blocking contribution, exhibit a short-term modulation that is better explained by faculae than by errors in the sunspot-blocking function. The data for 1980 indicate that the facular contribution was comparable to that of spots over time scales of active region evolution in that year.
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Foukal et al. (1986) studied this question.
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