Improving consistency of the ERB record measured by CERES scanners aboard Terra/Aqua/S-NPP satellites

A purpose of this paper is to present verification of the consistency of unfiltered radiances measured by CERES instruments over their mission 2000-2016. The FM1 scanner on Terra, designated as the climate instrument, is used as a benchmark. The degradation modeling while the instruments on Terra and Aqua were operating in the RAPS mode is being revised, and the rate of the monthly degradation is shown to be 0.03%. The focus of this paper is on consistency between Terra CERES scanners, and it is a part of a broader investigation. Results of comparing FM2 and FM1 are reported for all-sky condition and selected scene types for shortwave and long-wave radiances based on Edition 4 ERBE-like (ES8) data product. Some scene type based results are also verified using an SSF product that contains imager (MODIS) information.