CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - CERES -
Full Name Cloud and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Status Operational
Instrument Agencies NASA Maturity
Instrument Type Earth radiation budget radiometers Geometry Nadir-viewing
Instrument Technology Broad-band radiometer Sampling Imaging
Data Access Open Access Data Format HDF5 and NetCDF
Measurements and Applications Long term measurement of the Earth's radiation budget and atmospheric radiation from the top of the atmosphere to the surface; provision of an accurate and self-consistent cloud and radiation database.
Resolution Summary 20 km
Swath Summary
Accuracy Summary 0.5%, 1%, 0.3% (respectively for the 3 channels)
Waveband Summary 3 channels: 0.3-5 µm, 0.3 - 100 µm, 8 - 12 µm
UV (~0.01 µm - ~0.40 µm)
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
NIR (~0.75 µm - ~1.3 µm)
SWIR (~1.3 µm - ~3.0 µm)
MWIR (~3.0 µm - ~6.0 µm)
TIR (~6.0 µm - ~15.0 µm)
FIR (~15.0 µm - ~0.1 cm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
Radiation budgetDownwelling (Incoming) solar radiation at TOA
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface
Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface
Upwelling (Outgoing) long-wave radiation at Earth surface
Long-wave Earth surface emissivity
Thematic Links Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECVDescriptionProduct(s)ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Earth Radiation Budget click here click here Record ID: 11143
Record ID: 11142

Instrument Missions
TRMM - Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (1997 - 2015)
Terra - Terra (formerly EOS AM-1) (1999 - 2027)
Aqua - Aqua (formerly EOS PM-1) (2002 - 2026)
Suomi NPP - Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (2011 - 2026)
NPOESS-1 - National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System - 1 (2013 - 2020)
JPSS-1 - Joint Polar Satellite System - 1 aka NOAA-20 (2017 - 2027)
NPOESS-5 - National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System - 4 (2018 - 2023)