CERES Bidirectional Scans: Terra FM1 Instrument Validation Data

CERES-FM1 instrument data collected on the Terra satellite platform, intended solely for instrument validation and not for science publications. The dataset contains 24 hours of Level-1B data per scanner, including raw and geolocated science data, satellite position, and calibration views. Data collection for this product is ongoing as of the last update in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Validate instrument calibration algorithms based on the included space, internal, and solar calibration views.
• Analyze instrument performance over time using the 24-hour samples of normal and short Earth scan elevation profiles.
• Compare raw and converted science data to assess data processing pipeline accuracy.
• Study satellite positional data converted from Level-0 inputs for geolocation validation.

Strengths

• Data collection is explicitly stated as ongoing, suggesting continuous updates.
• Contains both raw (Level-0) and geolocated converted science data, allowing for process verification.
• Includes additional converted data not in the original Level-0 input, such as satellite position and velocity.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• The description explicitly states this data is 'not suited for science publications' and is for validation only.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected using the CERES-FM1 instrument on the Terra satellite platform.

Time Range

Data collection is ongoing; temporal coverage is not explicitly defined.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:10:19.696237; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from the Terra satellite's polar orbit.