The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument is a narrow field-of-view scanning radiometer that measures reflected solar and emitted thermal infrared radiation from Earth. These data provide a better understanding of the energy exchange between Earth and space that drives Earth’s climate system and how this energy exchange changes over time. The first CERES instrument was launched aboard the joint NASA/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM; operational 1997 to 2015). Six CERES instruments are currently in space: NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites each have two CERES sensors, while one CERES sensor is aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) and NOAA-20 satellites.
