CERES and GEO-Enhanced TOA, Within-Atmosphere and Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Thre

CERES SYN1deg-3Hour_Terra-NPP_Edition1A is a NASA data product providing top-of-atmosphere, within-atmosphere, and surface radiative fluxes alongside cloud and aerosol properties. The data is derived from multiple satellite instruments, including CERES, MODIS, VIIRS, and geostationary imagers, and is processed using the Langley Fu-Liou radiative transfer model. It offers parameters on a three-hourly temporal resolution and a 1-degree regional spatial scale.

Use Cases

• Modeling Earth's radiative energy budget based on provided longwave, shortwave, and window region fluxes.
• Analyzing cloud radiative forcing and properties based on MODIS and geostationary-derived cloud data.
• Studying aerosol impacts on atmospheric radiation based on parameters for pristine and aerosol-included conditions.
• Investigating diurnal cycles in radiation and clouds based on three-hourly data enhanced with geostationary observations.

Strengths

• Data integrates observations from multiple satellite platforms and instruments, including CERES, MODIS, VIIRS, and geostationary imagers.
• Fluxes are provided for clear-sky, all-sky, pristine, and aerosol conditions, enabling controlled comparisons.
• Uses a normalization technique to ensure consistency between CERES and geostationary satellite-derived top-of-atmosphere fluxes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected using CERES, MODIS, and VIIRS instruments on Terra and Suomi NPP satellites, enhanced with data from geostationary imagers and processed with the Langley Fu-Liou model.

Time Range

Data collection for this product is stated as complete, but specific temporal coverage is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:09:55.003441; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage on a 1-degree equal-angle grid.