SatCORPS CERES GEO: Hourly Cloud and Radiation Properties from Meteosat-8

CER_GEO_Ed4_MET08_SH_V01.2 is a NASA satellite data product providing hourly cloud microphysical and radiation properties derived from the SEVIRI instrument on the Meteosat-8 geostationary satellite over the Southern Hemisphere. The data is arranged in hourly files in netCDF-4 format with observations at 3 km resolution (sub-sampled to 6 km) and supports the CERES project, a key component of the Earth Observing System. Data collection for this product is in progress, with Version 1.2 covering the period when the satellite moved to 41° E.

Use Cases

• Modeling the Earth's diurnal radiation budget based on hourly geostationary satellite observations.
• Analyzing cloud microphysical properties over the Southern Hemisphere based on SEVIRI instrument retrievals.
• Estimating radiative fluxes between CERES instrument measurements based on merged global cloud properties.
• Studying temporal changes in cloud cover and properties at 3-6 km spatial resolution.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a well-established satellite program (CERES) with instruments launched on multiple missions from 1997 to 2017.
• Provides high temporal resolution (hourly) data to account for the changing diurnal cycle.
• Observations are at a fine spatial resolution of 3 km at nadir.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection is noted as 'in progress', which may imply the dataset is not yet complete or static.
• Row count and total temporal coverage are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Langley Research Center (LaRC) SatCORPS algorithms.

Collection Method

Derived from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on the Meteosat-8 geostationary satellite.

Time Range

Covers period when Meteosat-8 was at 41° E; specific start/end dates are not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 22:08:39.105152; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Hemisphere coverage from the Meteosat-8 geostationary satellite.