CERES SSF1deg-Month Terra Edition4A: Time-Interpolated TOA Fluxes and Cloud Properties

CERES Time-Interpolated TOA Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Monthly Terra Edition4A is a NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) data product collected by CERES Flight Models 1 and 2 and MODIS instruments on the Terra satellite. It provides daily averages of top-of-atmosphere fluxes, cloud properties, and aerosols on a 1-degree latitude and longitude grid, with data collection still in progress. The dataset includes clear-sky and all-sky fluxes for longwave, shortwave, and window bands, cloud properties stratified into four atmospheric layers, and aerosol values from a co-located imager.

Use Cases

• Model Earth's radiation budget based on interpolated top-of-atmosphere fluxes for longwave, shortwave, and window bands.
• Analyze cloud distribution and properties based on data stratified into four atmospheric layers (surface-700 hPa, 700-500 hPa, 500-300 hPa, 300-100 hPa).
• Study aerosol optical depth and distribution based on averaged instantaneous values from the co-located MODIS imager.
• Validate climate models using daily averaged, regionally constant meteorology data on a 1-degree global grid.
• Track changes in incoming solar irradiance based on data sourced from the SORCE and Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) experiments.

Strengths

• Data is collected from multiple CERES Flight Models (FM1, FM2) and the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite, providing multi-instrument validation.
• Fluxes and cloud properties are provided on a standardized 1-degree latitude and longitude global grid.
• Cloud properties are averaged for both day-only and full 24-hour periods, offering temporal flexibility.
• The dataset includes clear-sky and all-sky conditions for three distinct wavelength bands (LW, SW, WN).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• The description states 'Data collection for this product is in progress,' indicating it may be an ongoing, incomplete series.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected using the CERES Flight Model 1 (FM1), FM2, and MODIS instruments on the Terra platform.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:56:15.169440; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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