A comparison study for the solar radiative flux above clouds is presented between the regional climate model system BALTEX integrated model system (BALTIMOS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations. For MODIS, an algorithm has been developed to retrieve reflected shortwave fluxes over clouds. The study area is the Baltic Sea catchment area during an 11-month period from February to December 2002. The intercomparison focuses on the variations of the daily and seasonal cycle and the spatial distributions. We found good agreement between the observed and the simulated data with a bias of the temporal mean of 13.6 W/m² and a bias of the spatial mean of 35.5 W/m². For summer months, BALTIMOS overestimates the solar flux with up to 90 W/m² (20%). This might be explained by the insufficient representation of cirrus clouds in the regional climate model.