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NOAA GOES-R Series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Level 2 Cloud Particle Size Distribution (CPS)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:21 PM | Dataset Last Updated: February 22, 2018 at 12:00 AM
The GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Cloud Particle Size product contains an image with pixel values identifying a measure of the effective radius of the particles in a single cloud layer. It is defined by the ratio of the third and second moment of the particle size distribution. Separate algorithms are used for daytime, solar zenith angle to 82 degrees, and nighttime, solar zenith angle greater than 82 degrees, conditions. The product is generated in combination with the Cloud Optical Depth product by the same algorithms. The product includes data quality information that identifies whether the daytime or nighttime algorithm generated the pixel, and provides an assessment of the cloud particle size data values for on-earth pixels. The units of measure for the cloud particle size value is microns. Product data is produced under the following conditions for the daytime algorithm: Cloudy; Geolocated source data to local zenith angles of 65 degrees and to solar zenith angles of 82 degrees. Product data generated by the nighttime algorithm is produced under the following conditions: Cloudy; Geolocated source data to local zenith angles of 70 degrees and solar zenith angles between 82 and 180 degrees. The cloud particle size values reported range from 0 to 100 um. However, the size range depends on day/night conditions and the liquid/ice water phase. Cloud Particle Size product data is identified as degraded in the terminator region, which is a solar zenith angle between 65 and 82 degrees for the daytime algorithm, and 82 and 90 degrees for the nighttime algorithm. The measurement range for Cloud Particle Size is determined by the model parameterization used in the algorithm retrieval. For daytime retrievals, the effective radius is determined by the lookup table bounds, 100.4 to 102.0, corresponding to 2.51 to 100 um, for both liquid and ice clouds. For nighttime retrievals, the effective radiance is determined by the range of particle size models considered: 2 to 32 um for water clouds, and; 2.62 to 78.15 um for ice clouds where the retrieval of particle size diameter is related to the effective radius by a quadratic equation. The product image is provided at 2 km resolution on the ABI fixed grid for Full Disk, CONUS, and Mesoscale coverage regions from GOES East and West.

Resources

20 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • NCEI Archive Information Request System

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  • NOAA CLASS Data Search and Order

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  • NCEI GOES-R Terrestrial Weather (ABI/GLM)

    TEXT/HTML
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  • Product Definition and Users' Guide (PUG) Vol.1 Main

    PDF
    Download

  • Product Definition and Users' Guide (PUG) Vol.5 Level 2+ Products

    PDF
    Download

  • Registry of Open Data on AWS

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  • GOES-16 AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

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  • GOES-17 AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

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  • GOES-18 AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

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  • GOES-19 AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

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  • GOES-16 Google Cloud Bucket Explorer (Region: US-multiple)

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  • GOES-17 Google Cloud Bucket Explorer (Region: US-multiple)

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    Visit Page

  • GOES-18 Google Cloud Bucket Explorer (Region: US-multiple)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GOES-19 Google Cloud Bucket Explorer (Region: US-multiple)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Google Cloud Landing Page (Region: US-multiple)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GOES-R Program Document Library

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GOES Operational Status - NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • GCOS Essential Climate Variables

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Microphysics > Particle Size Distribution Atmospheric - Upper-air - Cloud Properties Geographic Region > Equatorial Geographic Region > Mid-Latitude Geographic Region > Northern Hemisphere Geographic Region > Southern Hemisphere Geographic Region > Western Hemisphere Geographic Region > Tropics

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@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
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}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description The GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Cloud Particle Size product contains an image with pixel values identifying a measure of the effective radius of the particles in a single cloud layer. It is defined by the ratio of the third and second moment of the particle size distribution. Separate algorithms are used for daytime, solar zenith angle to 82 degrees, and nighttime, solar zenith angle greater than 82 degrees, conditions. The product is generated in combination with the Cloud Optical Depth product by the same algorithms. The product includes data quality information that identifies whether the daytime or nighttime algorithm generated the pixel, and provides an assessment of the cloud particle size data values for on-earth pixels. The units of measure for the cloud particle size value is microns. Product data is produced under the following conditions for the daytime algorithm: Cloudy; Geolocated source data to local zenith angles of 65 degrees and to solar zenith angles of 82 degrees. Product data generated by the nighttime algorithm is produced under the following conditions: Cloudy; Geolocated source data to local zenith angles of 70 degrees and solar zenith angles between 82 and 180 degrees. The cloud particle size values reported range from 0 to 100 um. However, the size range depends on day/night conditions and the liquid/ice water phase. Cloud Particle Size product data is identified as degraded in the terminator region, which is a solar zenith angle between 65 and 82 degrees for the daytime algorithm, and 82 and 90 degrees for the nighttime algorithm. The measurement range for Cloud Particle Size is determined by the model parameterization used in the algorithm retrieval. For daytime retrievals, the effective radius is determined by the lookup table bounds, 100.4 to 102.0, corresponding to 2.51 to 100 um, for both liquid and ice clouds. For nighttime retrievals, the effective radiance is determined by the range of particle size models considered: 2 to 32 um for water clouds, and; 2.62 to 78.15 um for ice clouds where the retrieval of particle size diameter is related to the effective radius by a quadratic equation. The product image is provided at 2 km resolution on the ABI fixed grid for Full Disk, CONUS, and Mesoscale coverage regions from GOES East and West.
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C01509.xml
issued 2018-02-22T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Microphysics > Particle Size Distribution",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Cloud Properties",
  "Geographic Region > Equatorial",
  "Geographic Region > Mid-Latitude",
  "Geographic Region > Northern Hemisphere",
  "Geographic Region > Southern Hemisphere",
  "Geographic Region > Western Hemisphere",
  "Geographic Region > Tropics",
  "Continent > North America > United States Of America",
  "Continent > North America > Central America",
  "Continent > South America",
  "Ocean > Atlantic Ocean",
  "Ocean > Pacific Ocean",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "GOES > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites",
  "ABI-L2-CPS",
  "gov.noaa.class:GRABIPRD",
  "GRABIPRD",
  "ABI > Advanced Baseline Imager",
  "GOES-16 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 16",
  "GOES-17 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 17",
  "GOES-18 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 18",
  "GOES-19 > Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 19",
  "1 km - < 10 km or approximately .01 degree - < .09 degree",
  "1 minute - < 1 hour",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/STAR > Center for Satellite Applications and Research, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/OSPO > Office of Satellite and Product Operations, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "gov.noaa.class:GRABIPRD",
  "GRABIPRD",
  "ABIL2PROD",
  "ABIL2PCPSI, ABIL2PCPSR, ABIL2PCPST"
]
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2018-02-22T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://www.goes-r.gov/resources/docs.html",
  "https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Operations/GOES/status.html"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 6.2995,-81.3282,-156.2995,81.3282
temporal 2017-06-08T00:00:00+00:00/2017-06-08T00:00:00+00:00
title NOAA GOES-R Series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Level 2 Cloud Particle Size Distribution (CPS)

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