CERES ERBE-like Gridded Instantaneous TOA Fluxes Aqua Crosstrack Edition4

CERES ERBE-like Gridded Instantaneous TOA Fluxes Aqua Crosstrack Edition4 is a satellite-derived Earth radiation budget data product from NASA. It likely contains monthly averaged top-of-atmosphere shortwave and longwave fluxes sorted into 2.5-degree spatial regions, with hourly and daily averages for both clear-sky and total-sky scenes. Data collection is ongoing using the CERES-FM3 and FM4 instruments on the Aqua satellite launched in 2002.

Use Cases

• Modeling Earth's energy budget based on top-of-atmosphere shortwave and longwave flux measurements.
• Analyzing diurnal cycles of atmospheric radiation based on hourly average fluxes.
• Comparing clear-sky and total-sky radiative conditions based on scene-specific averages.
• Studying regional (2.5-degree) variations in radiative fluxes.
• Validating climate models using satellite-derived ERBE-like algorithm outputs.

Strengths

• Data collection is ongoing, providing continuous temporal coverage.
• Fluxes are averaged at multiple temporal scales (hourly, daily, monthly).
• Provides both clear-sky and total-sky scene averages for comparative analysis.
• Based on measurements from the CERES-FM3 and FM4 instruments on the Aqua satellite.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite radiometric measurements from CERES-FM3 and FM4 instruments on Aqua platform.

Time Range

Ongoing collection since Aqua launch in 2002.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:00:45.459224; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage with 2.5-degree spatial region gridding.