Scientists say new, more accurate measurements of the amount of energy the sun delivers to Earth will advance our understanding of global climate change.

Using laboratory and satellite data, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have confirmed a lower value of that energy, known as total solar irradiance, than previously measured, a university release said Friday.

The satellite instrument that made the measurement, featuring a new optical design and new calibrated methods has significantly improved the accuracy and consistency of such measurements, the researchers say.

Scientists say they're confident other, newer satellites expected to launch starting early this year will help resolve longstanding questions of how significant a contributor solar fluctuations are to the rising average global temperature of the planet.

"Improved accuracies and stabilities in the long-term total solar irradiance record mean improved estimates of the sun's influence on Earth's climate," Greg Kopp of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder says.