CERES Clouds and TOA/SFC Flux Processing Data Sets
|
CERES Clouds and TOA/SFC Flux Processing Data Sets |
|
CERES Clouds and TOA/SFC Flux processing focus on Top-of-Atmophere (TOA) radiation, includes parameterized models for surface radiation estimation. Cloud detection using multi-spectral VIRS/MODIS imager. Vastly improved angular directional models allowing cloud property dependent anisotropy. Time-space averaging includes 1hourly geostationary radiance data to improve diurnal cycle modeling between CERES Flux measurements.
The complete CERES processing and data flow diagram.
| Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) product
contains one hour of instantaneous Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy
System (CERES) data for a single scanner instrument. The SSF combines
instantaneous CERES data with scene information from a higher resolution
imager such as Visible/Infrared Scanner (VIRS) on TRMM or Moderate-Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua. Scene identification and
cloud properties are defined at the higher imager resolution and these data
are averaged over the larger CERES footprint. For each CERES footprint, the
SSF contains the number of cloud layers and for each layer the cloud amount,
height, temperature, pressure, optical depth, emissivity, ice and liquid
water path, and water particle size. The SSF also contains the CERES filtered
radiances for the total, shortwave (SW), and window (WN) channels and the
unfiltered SW, longwave (LW), and WN radiances. The SW, LW, and WN radiances
at spacecraft altitude are converted to Top-of-the-Atmosphere (TOA) fluxes
based on the imager defined scene. These TOA fluxes are used to estimate
surface fluxes.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Monthly Gridded TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SFC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Monthly Gridded TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SFC) archival data
product contains hourly single scanner flux and cloud parameters averaged
over regions in a 1.0-degree nested grid. The data are processed and written
in local time. Input to the SFC Subsystem is the Single Scanner Footprint
TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) archival data product. Each SFC covers a
single month swath from a single CERES instrument mounted on one satellite.
The product is written in HDF and contains metadata as well as gridded
science data. For TRMM, data will be organized onto eight SFC HDF files, each
containing data for ten 1.0-degree equal-angle zones. For Terra and Aqua,
data will be organized onto 36 SFC HDF files, each containing data for five
1.0-degree equal-angle zones. Each record contains spatially averaged data
for an individual region. The science data are Vdata with multiple records.
Each record contains spatially averaged data for an individual region.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Monthly TOA/Surface Averages (SRBAVG) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Monthly TOA/Surface Averages (SRBAVG) product contains monthly and
monthly hourly regional, zonal, and global averages of the
Top-of-the-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface LW and SW fluxes and the observed
cloud conditions for each 1-degree equal-angle region.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Monthly Gridded Cloud Averages (ISCCP-D2like-Day/Nit) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Monthly Gridded Cloud Averages (ISCCP-D2like-Day/Nit), archival data
product contains 3-hourly (GMT based) monthly and monthly 1° gridded
regional mean cloud properties as a function of 18 cloud types, similar to
the "NASA-GISS ISCCP D2 product" where the cloud properties are
stratified by pressure, optical depth and phase. There is a dataset for
Terra-MODIS and Aqua-MODIS as well as a day and nighttime dataset. The CERES
ISCCP-D2like-Day/Nit cloud product was designed to closely emulate the
NASA-GISS ISCCP-D2like products, so that they meet the needs of the climate
community and can easily be incorporated into GCMs, ISCCP simulators and
other climate modeling studies. The only major difference is that the CERES
ISCCP-D2like-Day/Nit are on the CERES 1° nested grid whereas ISCCP is on
a 2.5° equal area grid.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Monthly Cloud Averages (ISCCP-D2like-GEO) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Monthly Cloud Averages (ISCCP-D2like-GEO) archival data product
contains 3-hourly (GMT based) monthly and monthly 1° gridded regional
daytime mean cloud properties as a function of 18 cloud types, similar to the
ISCCP D2 product, where the cloud properties are stratified by pressure,
optical depth, and phase. The GEO ISCCP-D2like is a 5-satellite, daytime
3-hourly GMT, 8km nominal resolution, geostationary-only cloud product
limited to 60°N to 60°S. The GEO ISCCP-D2like is a daytime-only
product, where the cloud retrievals incorporate only a visible and IR channel
common to all geostationary satellites for spatial consistency.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The EBAF product provides monthly mean top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative
fluxes constrained such that the 5-year average global net TOA flux is
consistent with our best estimate of heat storage in the Earth-atmosphere
system (~0.9 Wm-2). CERES EBAF is primarily intended for studies
that use Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) data for climate model evaluation,
estimating the Earth's annual global mean energy budget, and in studies that
infer meridional heat transports. The CERES EBAF dataset is a single file in
netCDF format. It consists of monthly 1° regional, zonal, and global
averages of TOA longwave (LW), shortwave (SW), and net (NET) fluxes under
clear and all-sky conditions. It is derived from the Terra SRBAVG-GEO
Edition2D_rev1 and SSF Edition2B_rev1 data products.
|
