CERES-MODIS and hourly geostationary cloud properties stratified by ISCCP cloud types for day and night.

CER_CldTypHist_GEO-MODIS_Edition4A is the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)- Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and hourly geostationary cloud properties stratified by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) cloud types for day and night Edition 4A data product. Data collection is ongoing.

The CERES-MODIS and hourly geostationary cloud properties (CldTypHist) data product contain monthly and one-hourly gridded regional mean cloud properties as a function of 18 cloud types, where the cloud properties are stratified by pressure, optical depth, and phase. Data is available day and night. The CldTypHist product combines cloud properties from Terra-MODIS (10:30 AM local equator crossing time LECT), Aqua-MODIS (1:30 PM LECT), and geostationary satellites (GEO) to provide the most diurnally complete product. The GEO cloud properties have been normalized with MODIS for diurnal consistency. The CERES MODIS-derived cloud properties are not the official NASA MODIS cloud retrievals but are based on the CERES cloud working group retrievals that are also available in other CERES products. The CERES MODIS-derived cloud properties provide coverage from pole to pole. The hourly GEO cloud properties come from five satellites at 8km nominal resolution with coverage limited to equatorward of 60 degrees. The GEO cloud retrievals incorporate additional channels as they become available on improved geostationary satellites that replaced earlier ones in the time period. The geostationary calibration is normalized to Terra-MODIS. Each CldTypHist file covers a single month.

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, the proto flight model (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 onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) flagship Terra on December 18, 1999. Two additional CERES instruments (FM3 and FM4) were launched onboard Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua on May 4, 2002. The CERES FM5 instrument was launched onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite on October 28, 2011. The newest CERES instrument (FM6) was launched onboard the Joint Polar-Orbiting Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1) satellite, now called NOAA-20, on November 18, 2017.