A comprehensive radiometric validation protocol for CERES Earth Radiation Budget climate record senors

The CERES Flight Models 1 through 4 instruments were launched aboard NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua Spacecraft into 705 Km sun-synchronous orbits with 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. equatorial crossing times. These instruments supplement measurements made by the CERES Proto Flight Model (PFM) instrument launched aboard NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft on November 27, 1997 into a 350 Km, 38-degree mid-inclined orbit. An important aspect of the EOS program is the rapid archival and dissemination of datasets measured by EOS instruments to the scientific community. Six months after the commencement of science measurements, CERES is committed to archiving the Edition 1 Level 1 instrument, and Level 2 ERBE-Like data products. These products consist of geolocated and calibrated instantaneous filtered and unfiltered radiances through temporally and spatially averaged TOA fluxes. CERES filtered radiance measurements cover three spectral bands including shortwave (0.3 to 5 μm), total (0.3 to <100 μm) and an atmospheric window channel (8 to 12 μm). The current work summarizes both the philosophy and results of a validation protocol designed to rigorously quantify the quality of the data products as well as the level of agreement between the TRMM, Terra and Aqua datasets.

[1]  Richard N. Green,et al.  Validation of ERBS Scanner Radiances , 1996 .

[2]  Peter L. Spence,et al.  On-orbit stability results of CERES instruments aboard EOS Terra and Aqua spacecrafts using tropical ocean measurements , 2003, IGARSS 2003. 2003 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37477).

[3]  G. Louis Smith,et al.  Evaluation of the clouds and the Earth's radiant energy system (CERES) scanner pointing accuracy using a coastline detection system , 1998, Optics + Photonics.

[4]  Kory J. Priestley,et al.  Three-channel intercomparison and direct comparison on-orbit stability analyses as applied to the CERES instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites , 2003, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[5]  Bruce A. Wielicki,et al.  Inter‐calibration of CERES and ScaRaB Earth Radiation Budget datasets using temporally and spatially collocated radiance measurements , 2001 .

[6]  Kory J. Priestley,et al.  Geolocation validation of CERES instruments using radiance measurements , 2003, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[7]  Robert Benjamin Lee,et al.  Postlaunch Radiometric Validation of the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) Proto-Flight Model on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Spacecraft through 1999 , 2000 .

[8]  Robert S. Wilson,et al.  Measurements of filtered lunar radiances using the NASA Terra spacecraft/CERES thermistor bolometer sensors during 2000 and 2001 , 2003, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[9]  Chris Currey,et al.  Validation of the CERES Shortwave Measurements over Desert and Cloud Scenes , 1999 .

[10]  B. Barkstrom,et al.  Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES): An Earth Observing System Experiment , 1996 .

[11]  Bruce A. Wielicki,et al.  Determination of Unfiltered Radiances from the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System Instrument , 2001 .