CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols NOAA20-FM6-VIIRS Edition1B

CER_SSF_NOAA20-FM6_Edition1B data are Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) observed Top of Atmosphere (TOA) fluxes, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) clouds and aerosols, and parameterized surface fluxes. Data collection for this product is in progress. The TOA/Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) product contains one hour of instantaneous CERES data for a single scanner instrument. SSF combines instantaneous CERES data with scene information from a higher-resolution imager such as Visible/Infrared Scanner (VIRS) on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) or MODIS on Terra and Aqua, or Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on SUOMI National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) and NOAA-20.

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, 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. 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 TOA fluxes based on the imager defined scene. These TOA fluxes are used to estimate surface fluxes. Only footprints with adequate imager coverage are included on CER_SSF_NOAA20-FM6-VIIRS_Edition1B, which is much less than the full set of footprints on the CERES ES-8 product.

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 (Flight Model 1 (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 CERES instrument (FM5) was launched on board the S-NPP satellite on October 28, 2011. The newest CERES instrument (FM6) was launched on board the Joint Polar-Orbiting Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1) satellite on November 18, 2017.