CERES Angular Distribution Models for Top-of-Atmosphere Radiative Flux Calculations

Abstract:

The top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes are critical components to advancing our understanding of the Earth's radiative energy balance, radiative effects of clouds and aerosols, and climate feedback. The Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments provide broadband shortwave and longwave radiance measurements. These radiances are converted to fluxes by using scene type dependent Angular Distribution Models (ADMs). This paper describes the next-generation ADMs that are developed for Terra and Aqua using all available CERES rotating azimuth plane radiance measurements. Coincident cloud and aerosol retrievals, and radiance measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and meteorological parameters from Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) data assimilation version 5.4.1 are used to define scene type. CERES radiance measurements are stratified by scene type and by other parameters that are important for determining the anisotropy of the given scene type. Anisotropic factors are then defined either for discrete intervals of relevant parameters or as a continuous functions of combined parameters, depending on the scene type. Compared to the existing ADMs, the new ADMs change the monthly mean instantaneous fluxes by up to 5 Wm^-2 on a regional scale of 1^o latitude by 1^o longitude, but the flux changes are less than 0.5 Wm^-2 on a global scale.