CERES CCCM D2: Merged Satellite Data for Atmospheric Flux Profiles

NASA's CERES CCCM Release D2 merges data from Aqua, CALIPSO, and CloudSat satellites to compute high-resolution vertical atmospheric fluxes. The product uses the Fu-Liou radiation transfer model and contains CERES-derived top-of-atmosphere irradiances. Daily HDF granules provide 24 hours of global data along the satellite track.

Use Cases

• Modeling radiative fluxes within the atmosphere based on high-resolution vertical profiles of cloud and aerosol properties.
• Analyzing cloud radiative effects using computed top-of-atmosphere shortwave, longwave, and window irradiances.
• Studying aerosol impacts on atmospheric radiation using the clear-sky and pristine-sky assumptions in the radiation transfer model.
• Correlating satellite instrument observations by matching footprints across CERES, MODIS, CALIOP, and CPR data.

Strengths

• Integrates data from multiple satellite instruments (CERES FM3, MODIS, CALIOP, CPR) for synergistic analysis.
• Provides computed irradiance profiles using four distinct radiative transfer assumptions (total-sky, clear-sky, pristine, total-sky no aerosol).
• Contains daily global coverage along the satellite track in HDF granule format.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The product should not be considered a climate data record due to varying input versions and algorithm modifications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Merged satellite observations from Aqua, CALIPSO, and CloudSat instruments.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:28:38.409300; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage along satellite track.