Combined clouds, aerosols and energy from five sensors

CER_CCCM_Aqua-FM3-MODIS-CAL-CS_RelD2 is Release D2 of a highly fused Level 2 data product that uses multiple satellites and instruments in the Afternoon Train or A-Train to produce high-resolution vertical computed atmosphere fluxes. From Aqua, the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Flight Model 3 (FM3) and Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS); from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP); and from CloudSat, the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) instruments are used in the product. The CCCM product name indicates the CALIPSO, CloudSat, CERES, and MODIS merged data synergy. The cloud and aerosol properties from CALIOP and cloud properties from the CPR are used to create high-resolution vertical profiles and sixteen horizontal groupings of cloud and aerosol that are then matched to a MODIS pixel and then convolved into Aqua CERES footprints. The product contains only the CERES footprint in each scan, which has the highest CALIPSO and CloudSat ground track coverage. The high-resolution information is used to compute within-atmosphere irradiance profiles using the Fu-Liou radiation transfer model (RTM). Four assumptions are used in the RTM: Total-sky, clear-sky (no clouds, but aerosol), pristine (no clouds or aerosols), and total-sky, no aerosol. The product also contains variables from the Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) product, including CERES-derived top-of-atmosphere (TOA) shortwave (SW), longwave (LW), and window (WN) irradiances obtained using angular distribution models and computed irradiances included in the Cloud Radiative Swath (CRS) product based on cloud and aerosol properties derived only from MODIS radiances. Two sets of SSF variables are included in the CCCM data. One set uses imager data covering the entire CERES footprint, and the other set only uses imager pixel data that matches with the CALIOP and CPR ground track. However, the CCCM product should not be considered a climate data record since various input data product versions and algorithm modifications will occur during the measurement period. The scan and packet numbers unique to the CERES footprint provide the means to match the data to other CERES products, although the CCCM product contains more near-nadir CERES footprints that are not in the standard SSF, CER_SSF_Aqua-FM3-MODIS_Edition4A, and CRS, CER_CRS_Aqua-FM3-MODIS_Edition2C, products. The resulting daily HDF granule contains 24 hours of data along the satellite track covering the globe. 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 CERES instrument, Flight Models 3 (FM3), was launched onboard Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua on May 4, 2002. CALIPSO is a joint satellite mission between NASA and the French Agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales). CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006, to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. CloudSat was selected as a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder satellite mission in 1999 to provide observations necessary to advance our understanding of cloud abundance, distribution, structure, and radiative properties. It also launched on April 28, 2006.