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CERES Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) TOA and Surface Monthly means data in netCDF Edition 4.2.1

Metadata Updated: August 30, 2025

CERES_EBAF_Edition4.2.1 is the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface monthly means data in netCDF format Edition 4.2.1 data product. Data was collected using the CERES Scanner instruments on the Terra, Aqua, and NOAA-20 platforms for various periods. Data collection for this product is ongoing.CERES_EBAF_Edition4.2.1 data are monthly and climatological averages of TOA clear-sky (spatially complete) fluxes and all-sky fluxes, where the TOA net flux is constrained to the ocean heat storage. It also provides computed monthly mean surface radiative fluxes consistent with the CERES EBAF-TOA product and some basic cloud properties derived from colocated imagers. Cloud Radiative Effects are supplied at the TOA and surface, as determined using a cloud-free profile in the Fu-Liou Radiative Transfer Model (RTM). Observed fluxes are obtained using cloud properties derived from narrow-band imagers onboard both EOS Terra and Aqua satellites and NOAA-20, as well as geostationary satellites, to model the diurnal cycle of clouds. The computations are also based on meteorological assimilation data from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Versions 5.4.1 models. Unlike other CERES Level 3 clear-sky regional data sets that contain clear-sky data gaps, the clear-sky fluxes in the EBAF-TOA product are regionally complete. The EBAF-TOA product is the CERES project's best estimate of the fluxes based on all available satellite platforms and input data. 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 follow the successful Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission. The first CERES instrument, the protoflight 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 on board the Earth Observing System (EOS) flagship Terra on December 18, 1999. Two additional CERES instruments (FM3 and FM4) were launched on board the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua on May 4, 2002. The CERES FM5 instrument was launched on board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (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, now called NOAA-20, on November 18, 2017.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date June 20, 2025
Metadata Updated Date August 30, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 20, 2025
Metadata Updated Date August 30, 2025
Publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
Maintainer
Identifier 10.5067/TERRA-AQUA-NOAA20/CERES/EBAF_L3B004.2.1
Data Last Modified 2025-08-27
Category Earth Science
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 7f9345be-721b-4316-b6f8-270cc5415741
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/citing-data
Old Spatial "CARTESIAN",{"Boundary":{"Points":{"Latitude":-90,"Longitude":-180},{"Latitude":-90,"Longitude":180},{"Latitude":90,"Longitude":180},{"Latitude":90,"Longitude":-180},{"Latitude":-90,"Longitude":-180}}}
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 28f0dd750d4f588dd7b7948ee4d893700e45a8565b5f7f1ec07f583cfd049e57
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 2000-03-01/2000-03-01

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