CERES Instrument Data Products

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) experiment is a cornerstone of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). These satellite instruments are designed to measure radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), including reflected solar radiation and longwave emission from the Earth's surface and atmosphere, as well as several cloud property variables. The first CERES instrument was launched in November 1997 on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. CERES observations will help provide a scientific understanding of Earth's radiation budget and global climate change. The NASA Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center processes, archives and distributes the CERES data products. This poster discusses the CERES data products, some uses of these products, and how to obtain CERES data.

Examples of application of CERES data in environmental remote sensing include research being conducted toward monitoring smoke and fire events. CERES reflected SW flux at TOA is being used in conjunction with imagery from the Visible InfraRed Scanner (VIRS) to improve detection of smoke aerosols that result from biomass fires. Separating those particles from clouds can lead to better understanding of the radiative impact of smoke aerosols from biomass burning. CERES radiances and VIRS aerosol optical depth data are also being used together to estimate aerosol radiative forcing over the oceans.

The CERES data products may be ordered from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center at http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov