CERES ES-9: Gridded Instantaneous Top-of-Atmosphere Fluxes

CERES ES-9 provides monthly averaged top-of-atmosphere radiative flux data from satellite instruments. The dataset contains instantaneous shortwave and longwave fluxes sorted into 2.5-degree spatial regions, with daily and monthly averages for clear-sky and total-sky scenes. It is produced by NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System program, with instruments launched on satellites from 1997 to 2017.

Use Cases

• Analyzing regional radiative energy budgets based on 2.5-degree gridded flux averages.
• Studying diurnal cycles of atmospheric radiation based on hourly observation bins.
• Comparing clear-sky versus total-sky radiative conditions based on scene identification data.
• Validating climate model outputs based on satellite-derived top-of-atmosphere flux measurements.

Strengths

• Data is derived from multiple CERES instruments launched on NASA satellites spanning from 1997 to 2017.
• Fluxes are provided at multiple temporal resolutions: instantaneous, hourly, daily, and monthly averages.
• Includes both clear-sky and total-sky scene classifications for comparative analysis.

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 instruments sorted and averaged by region, day, and hour.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:01:44.920697; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage with 2.5-degree spatial regions.