SatCORPS CERES GEO Edition 4 MTSAT-2R Southern Hemisphere Version 1.0

SatCORPS CERES GEO Edition 4 data provides hourly cloud microphysical and radiation properties derived from the MTSAT-2R geostationary satellite over the Southern Hemisphere. The dataset is produced by NASA's Langley Research Center using the VISSR instrument and supports the CERES project to estimate fluxes between instrument measurements. Data is arranged as hourly files in netCDF-4 format at a nominal 4 km resolution, subsampled to 8 km.

Use Cases

• Modeling the Earth's diurnal radiation budget based on hourly cloud property estimates.
• Analyzing cloud microphysical property changes over time based on geostationary satellite imagery.
• Validating and supplementing polar-orbiting CERES instrument measurements based on merged global cloud properties.
• Studying Southern Hemisphere atmospheric dynamics based on high-temporal-resolution geostationary data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a dedicated geostationary satellite platform (MTSAT-2R) providing consistent observation geometry.
• Hourly temporal resolution supports analysis of the diurnal cycle.
• Nominal spatial resolution of 4 km at nadir provides detailed spatial information.
• Produced by NASA's Langley Research Center using established SatCORPS algorithms for the CERES project.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Spatial coverage is limited to the Southern Hemisphere.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from the Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) Instrument on the MTSAT-2 platform using Langley Research Center SatCORPS algorithms.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 22:08:43.434559; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Hemisphere, from MTSAT-2R geostationary satellite.