Solar radiation enters the Earth's atmosphere with a portion being scattered by clouds and aerosols.

Processing, archiving and distributing Earth science data
at the NASA Langley Research Center

CERES Data and Information Page

CERES Project Emblem

CERES Data and Information

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) is a key component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) program. The CERES instruments provide radiometric measurements of the Earth's atmosphere from three broadband channels. The CERES missions are a follow-on to the successful Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission. The first CERES instrument (PFM) was launched on November 27, 1997 as part of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Two CERES instruments (FM1 and FM2) were launched into polar orbit on board the EOS flagship Terra on December 18, 1999. Two additional CERES instruments (FM3 and FM4) were launched on board EOS Aqua on May 4, 2002. The latest CERES instrument (FM5) was launched on board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite on October 28, 2011.

 

The newest instrument (FM6) is one of five that launched Nov. 18, 2017 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1), which opened its covers on Jan. 05, 2018. The release of instrument and ERBElike data from FM6 occurred in June 2018. Read the full article:   "'First Light' Images from FM6 Earth-observing Instrument"

Spatially (1°x1° lat/lon regional, 1° zonal, global) and temporally (monthly, climatological, etc.) averaged fluxes where the TOA net flux has been energy balanced.

Processing Stream Description Data Products

EBAF

Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF)​

  • TOA: CERES TOA all-sky and spatially complete clear-sky fluxes, where TOA net flux is constrained to ocean heat storage.
  • Surface: Computed surface clear-sky and all-sky fluxes consistent with the EBAF-TOA fluxes.
  • CERES TOA and surface all-sky, spatially complete clear-sky flux, and clear-sky for total region. Cloud Radiative Effect (CRE) for TOA and surface fluxes is also included.

Spatially (1°x1° lat/lon regional, 1° zonal, global) and temporally (daily, monthly, etc.) averaged fluxes and clouds.

Processing Stream Description Data Products

SYN1deg

CERES temporally interpolated TOA fluxes (GEO-enhanced), MODIS and GEO clouds, and computed TOA/surface/profile fluxes.

SSF1deg

CERES temporally interpolated TOA fluxes (constant meteorology) and MODIS clouds.

CldTypHist

MODIS and GEO cloud properties stratified by pressure and optical depth.

FluxByCldTyp

Instantaneous gridded daytime-only CERES sub-footprint cloud layers and associated fluxes stratified by pressure and optical depth

ISCCP-D2like

CERES-MODIS and GEO cloud properties stratified by ISCCP cloud types and in the similar D2 format. 

FLASHFlux

Near real-time CERES observed TOA fluxes, MODIS clouds, and parameterized surface fluxes.

ERBElike

CERES instrument TOA fluxes using algorithms identical to those used by ERBE.

- ES4: Also includes large-scale regional, zonal, and global fluxes

- ES9: Also includes 2.5° regional instantaneous fluxes

Instantaneous footprint-level (20km nominal) fluxes and cloud properties.

Processing Stream Description Data Products

SSF

CERES observed TOA fluxes, MODIS clouds and aerosols, and parameterized surface fluxes.

CERES-MISR

MISR radiances associated with along-track CERES SSF data.

CCCM

CALIPSO/CloudSat cloud and aerosols collocated with nadir-view CERES fluxes and clouds.

GEO

Hourly geostationary cloud micro-physical and radiation properties to estimate fluxes between CERES measurements.

FLASHFlux

Near real-time CERES observed TOA fluxes, MODIS clouds, and parameterized surface fluxes.

ERBElike

CERES instrument TOA fluxes using algorithms identical to those used by ERBE.

CRS

Computed TOA/surface/profile fluxes using MODIS clouds and aerosols from SSF.

CERES instantaneous footprint-level (20km nominal) ephemeris and instrument level data.

Processing Stream Description Data Products

BDS

CERES geolocated and calibrated TOA filtered radiances and other instrument data.

CERES read software is product dependent. If read software is available, a "read software" tab will appear on the product landing page.