SatCORPS CERES GEO Edition 4 MTSAT-2R Southern Hemisphere Version 1.2

CER_GEO_Ed4_MTS02_SH_V01.2 is a geostationary satellite data product providing hourly cloud micro-physical and radiation properties. The data is derived from the MTSAT-2 satellite's VISSR instrument at 4 km resolution and is arranged in hourly netCDF-4 files. This product supports NASA's CERES project, a key Earth Observing System program initiated with launches from 1997 to 2017.

Use Cases

• Modeling the Earth's diurnal radiation cycle based on hourly cloud property estimates.
• Analyzing cloud micro-physical properties over the Southern Hemisphere based on geostationary satellite imager data.
• Estimating radiative fluxes between CERES instrument measurements based on merged global cloud properties.
• Studying atmospheric temperature and precipitation patterns suggested by the platform tags.

Strengths

• Data is collected hourly, providing high temporal resolution for diurnal cycle analysis.
• Observations are at 4 km spatial resolution at nadir.
• Product is part of the long-running CERES project, with instrument launches spanning from 1997 to 2017.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection is noted as 'in progress', which may indicate incomplete temporal coverage.
• Version 1.2 is stated to be identical to version 1.0 with no algorithm changes, suggesting potential for outdated methods.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from MTSAT-2 geostationary satellite imager data using Langley Research Center SatCORPS algorithms.

Time Range

Data collection is in progress; specific start date is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 22:02:12.257844; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Hemisphere, from a geostationary satellite perspective.