ESA Cloud Climate Change Initiative (Cloud_cci): MERIS+AATSR monthly gridded cloud properties, Version 2.0

The Cloud_cci MERIS+AATSR dataset was generated within the Cloud_cci project (esa-cloud-cci.org) which was funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) programme (Contract No.: 4000109870/13/I-NB). This dataset is one of the 6 datasets generated in Cloud_cci; all of them being based on passive-imager satellite measurements. This dataset is based on MERIS and AATSR (onboard ENVISAT) measurements and contains a variety of cloud properties which were derived employing the Freie Universität Berlin AATSR MERIS Cloud (FAME-C) retrieval system.

The core cloud properties contained in the Cloud_cci MERIS+AATSR dataset are cloud mask/fraction, cloud phase, cloud top pressure/height/temperature, cloud optical thickness, cloud effective radius and cloud liquid/ice water path. Spectral cloud albedo is also included as experimental product. Level-3C product files contain monthly averages and histograms of the mentioned cloud properties together with propagated uncertainty measures.