Derivation of TOA and surface fluxes within one week of satellite measurements using the FLASHFlux algorithms

For over a decade the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) project has been drawing together measurements to produce a world-class climate data record. Obtaining the very highest degree of accuracy needed for climate analysis, however, requires processing to assess the calibration coefficients, which typically delays the delivery of the CERES results to the climate community by more than six months after the satellite measurements. Although such delays are not critical for climate studies, there are a number of near real-time uses for the CERES data. The Fast Longwave and Shortwave Radiative Flux (FLASHFlux) subsystem was, therefore, developed within the CERES project to provide TOA and surface fluxes within one week of satellite measurements. Despite the use of the most recently available calibration coefficients and operational inputs that are different from CERES, FLASHFlux has been found to provide results that compare very favorably with the CERES results.