EO:EUM:DAT:0874
CLARA-A3: CM SAF cLoud, Albedo and surface RAdiation dataset from AVHRR data - Edition
3The CLARA-A3 record provides cloud properties and radiation parameters derived from
the AVHRR sensor onboard polar orbiting NOAA and METOP satellites. CLARA-A3 is the
latest edition of CLARA with previous editions documented in Karlsson et al. (2013)
and Karlsson et al. (2017). CLARA-A3 covers the time period 1979/01/01 until 2020/12/31
as climate data record (CDR), but is operationally extended as interim climate data
record (ICDR) to the present with a latency of 10 days. The AVHRR measurement input
to the CLARA-A3 retrieval algorithms is the EUMETSAT PyGAC AVHRR Fundamental Data
Record (FDR) Release 1 (DOI:10.15770/EUM_SEC_CLM_0060). CLARA-A3 features a range
of cloud products: cloud mask, cloud top temperature/pressure/height, cloud thermodynamic
phase, and (for liquid and ice clouds separately) cloud optical thickness, particle
effective radius and cloud water path. Additionally, cloud droplet number concentration
and cloud geometrical thickness are provided for liquid clouds. Furthermore, a range
of radiation products are included in CLARA-A3: surface black-sky, white-sky and blue-sky
albedo; surface downwelling short- and longwave radiation as well as surface net radiation;
top-of-atmosphere (TOA) upwelling short- and longwave radiation. Cloud products are
available as monthly and daily averages and histograms, as well as daily resampled
global products (Level 2b) for individual satellites. Surface albedo is presented
as monthly and pentad (5 day) averages. Surface and TOA radiation products are provided
as daily and monthly averages. All averages are available on a 0.25° x 0.25° global
grid. Surface albedo and selected cloud products are also provided on two equal area
grids with a resolution of 25 km x 25 km covering the polar regions. Daily resampled
cloud products (level 2b) are provided in a global grid with a resolution of 0.05°x0.05°.
CLARA-A3 features a comprehensive set of documentation including User Manuals, Validation
Reports and Algorithms Theoretical Baseline Documents. This is a Thematic Climate
Data Record (TCDR).
Satellite: Instrument: AVHRR
Temporal Extent: 1979-01-01 -
now
Orbit Type: LEO
Data Policy: NoConditions
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