CERES SSF1deg: Hourly Top-of-Atmosphere Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols

CERES Single Scanner Footprint One Degree Hour provides regional averages of Top of Atmosphere fluxes, clouds, and aerosols on a 1-degree latitude/longitude grid. The data originates from the CERES instrument on the NOAA-20 satellite, part of NASA's Earth Observing System program. The dataset includes clear-sky and all-sky fluxes for longwave, shortwave, and window wavelength bands, with cloud properties stratified into four atmospheric layers.

Use Cases

• Modeling Earth's radiation budget based on regional averages of TOA fluxes.
• Analyzing cloud radiative forcing based on cloud properties stratified into four atmospheric layers.
• Studying aerosol impacts on atmospheric energy balance based on instantaneous aerosol values.
• Comparing day-only versus 24-hour cloud property averages for diurnal cycle studies.
• Validating climate models using CERES-derived TOA flux data for clear-sky and all-sky conditions.

Strengths

• Data is derived from the CERES instrument, a key component of NASA's Earth Observing System program.
• Cloud properties are stratified into four atmospheric layers (surface-700 hPa, 700-500 hPa, 500-300 hPa, 300-100 hPa) and a total layer.
• TOA fluxes are provided for both clear-sky and all-sky conditions across longwave, shortwave, and window wavelength bands.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last updated 2026-03-13 03:55:16.915674; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Radiometric measurements from the CERES instrument on the NOAA-20 satellite in cross-track mode.

Geography

Global coverage on a 1-degree latitude and longitude grid.