| Summary: | The CM-SAF is aiming at the provision of satellite-derived geophysical parameters suited for climate monitoring. After a five year development phase the CM-SAF entered the so called Initial Operations Phase (IOP) in January 2004 which will lead to a continuous development and operations phase expected for early 2007. CM-SAF produces a climatology of cloud parameters (e.g. cloud fraction, cloud top temperature, etc.), surface radiation fluxes and surface albedo, radiation fluxes at the top of the atmosphere, and atmospheric water vapour. The products are currently derived from data of instruments on-board the polar orbiting NOAA satellites and the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. By the end of the IOP data from the instruments on-board the MetOp satellite will be integrated into the products. As the CM-SAF has currently only a mandate for regional climate monitoring the area covers Europe and part of the North Atlantic Ocean. The coverage will be extended to the whole MSG disk as well as the Inner Arctic area during the IOP. Operational production has started in January 2005 with the CMSAF Version 1 products using NOAA data for cloud and surface radiation products as well as a CERES/GERB combination for top of the atmosphere radiation fluxes. Since September 2005 the CMSAF Version 2 including products derived from Meteosat 8 and the additional water vapour product that consists of total as well as layered precipitable water estimates constructed from the ATOVS system and SEVIRI estimates is available.
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