Abstract: The balance of the earth-atmosphere radiation budget is one of the decisive factors for climate. Temperature and humidity profiles have important influences on the radiation balance. Based on data collected at 74 sounding stations in eastern China from 1960 to 2008, temperature and absolute humidity profiles from the SBDART (Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer) model are compared with that from the sounding stations. Besides, the observed sounding profiles are put into the SBDART model to calculate the effects of temperature and absolute humidity profiles on radiation fluxes under clear sky condition. Results indicate that the atmospheric temperature and absolute humidity profiles have obvious regional and seasonal characteristics. There are significant differences between total downward fluxes at the surface calculated from the SBDART model and from observations at the sounding stations, especially in the winter in northeastern China and in the summer in central and eastern China and in the winter in southern China. The differences can reach up to 20-35 W/m² and the relative errors range from 2.01% to 3.18%. In the winter in northeastern China, in the winter in central and eastern China and in the summer and winter in southern China, the differences between total upward fluxes calculated from the default profiles in the model and from sounding profiles can reach up to 10-22 W/m² at the top of the atmosphere. And the relative errors range from 3.67% to 8.94%. The differences in the radiative heating rate between the model calculation and observations at sounding stations range from 0.03 K/d to 0.29 K/d. Our studies show that regional and seasonal characteristics of temperature and absolute humidity profiles from the SBDART model cannot realistically represent the conditions in eastern China. The establishment of a set of standard atmospheric profiles for eastern China can provide more accurate inputs for the simulation of radiation.