Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) algorithm theoretical basis document

The theoretical bases for the Release 1 algorithms that will be used to process satellite data for investigation of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) are described. The architecture for software implementation of the methodologies is outlined. Volume 1 provides both summarized and detailed overviews of the CERES Release 1 data analysis system. CERES will produce global top-of-the-atmosphere shortwave and longwave radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere, at the surface, and within the atmosphere by using the combination of a large variety of measurements and models. The CERES processing system includes radiance observations from CERES scanning radiometers, cloud properties derived from coincident satellite imaging radiometers, temperature and humidity fields from meteorological analysis models, and high-temporal-resolution geostationary satellite radiances to account for unobserved times. CERES will provide a continuation of the ERBE record and the lowest error climatology of consistent cloud properties and radiation fields. CERES will also substantially improve our knowledge of the Earth's surface radiation budget

Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) algorithm theoretical basis document

The theoretical bases for the Release 1 algorithms that will be used to process satellite data for investigation of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) are described. The architecture for software implementation of the methodologies is outlined. Volume 4 details the advanced CERES techniques for computing surface and atmospheric radiative fluxes (using the coincident CERES cloud property and top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) flux products) and for averaging the cloud properties and TOA, atmospheric, and surface radiative fluxes over various temporal and spatial scales. CERES attempts to match the observed TOA fluxes with radiative transfer calculations that use as input the CERES cloud products and NOAA National Meteorological Center analyses of temperature and humidity. Slight adjustments in the cloud products are made to obtain agreement of the calculated and observed TOA fluxes. The computed products include shortwave and longwave fluxes from the surface to the TOA. The CERES instantaneous products are averaged on a 1.25-deg latitude-longitude grid, then interpolated to produce global, synoptic maps to TOA fluxes and cloud properties by using 3-hourly, normalized radiances from geostationary meteorological satellites. Surface and atmospheric fluxes are computed by using these interpolated quantities. Clear-sky and total fluxes and cloud properties are then averaged over various scales

Searching the Web for Earth Science Data: Semiotics to Cybernetics and Back

This paper discusses a search paradigm for numerical data in Earth science that relies on the intrinsic structure of an archive's collection. Such non-textual data lies outside the normal textual basis for the Semantic Web. The paradigm tries to bypass some of the difficulties associated with keyword searches, such as semantic heterogeneity. The suggested collection structure uses a hierarchical taxonomy based on multidimensional axes of continuous variables. This structure fits the underlying 'geometry' of Earth science data better than sets of keywords in an ontology. The alternative paradigm views the search as a two-agent cooperative game that uses a dialog between the search engine and the data user. In this view, the search engine knows about the objects in the archive. It cannot read the user's mind to identify what the user needs. We assume the user has a clear idea of the search target. However he or she may not have a clear idea of the archive's contents. The paper suggests how the user interface may provide information to deal with the user's difficulties in understanding items in the dialog

.2 Cloud Forcing And The Earth's Radiation Budget: New Ideas And New Observations

orporate such long-lived phenomena as ocean currents and ecosystem in this Earth system science view. 2. NEW PERSPECTIVES ON CLOUD-RADIATION OBSERVATIONS The climate community is also on the verge of adding a new dimension to its observational capability. In classic thinking about atmospheric circulation and climate, surface pressure was a readily available quantity. As meteorology developed, it was possible to develop quantitative predictions of future weather by bringing together Corresponding author address: Bruce R. Barkstrom, Atmospheric Sciences Division, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 23681--0001; e-mail [email protected]?. a network of surface pressure observations and then of profiles of temperature and humidity obtained from balloons. However, from a deeper perspective, surface pressure is a variable that responds to perturbations in frictional wind stress at the Earth's surface and to the divergence of

The Adaptable Viral Archive

In this paper, the author considers how semantic technologies may impact the design of future archives, which require both very secure approaches to maintaining data, metadata, and their provenance, as well as the most cost effective operation possible. One potential application for semantic technologies may be improving the automation of system configuration, allowing an archive to be ``self-replicating\u27\u27 or ``viral\u27\u27 -- meaning that the archive infrastructure as well as its data could automatically pack itself into a self-contained structure that could be transmitted to a new site and automatically unpack itself. A more challenging problem is likely to be dealing with the evolution of the semantics of the collection and of the archive\u27s user communities over an extended period of time

Longwave Radiation from CERES Unwrapped

CERES stands for Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System. More information about CERES can be found at (http:--terra.nasa.gov-Brochure-Sect_4-3.html) and (http:--asd-www.larc.nasa.gov-ceres-brochure-intro.html). Educational levels: Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional

Spinning Global Longwave from CERES

CERES stands for Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System. More information about CERES can be found at (http:--terra.nasa.gov-Brochure-Sect_4-3.html) and (http:--asd-www.larc.nasa.gov-ceres-brochure-intro.html). Educational levels: Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional

Global Shortwave from CERES

CERES stands for Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System. More information about CERES can be found at (http:--terra.nasa.gov-Brochure-Sect_4-3.html) and (http:--asd-www.larc.nasa.gov-ceres-brochure-intro.html). Educational levels: Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional