Articles | Volume 15, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4901-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4901-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
CLARA-A3: The third edition of the AVHRR-based CM SAF climate data record on clouds, radiation and surface albedo covering the period 1979 to 2023
Karl-Göran Karlsson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Meteorological Research Unit, Research and Development Department, The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgsvägen 17, 602 10 Norrköping, Sweden
Martin Stengel
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
Jan Fokke Meirink
R&D Satellite Observations, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Utrechtseweg 297, 3731 GA De Bilt, the Netherlands
Aku Riihelä
Meteorological Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, 00101, Finland
Jörg Trentmann
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
Tom Akkermans
Remote Sensing from Space, Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Diana Stein
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
Abhay Devasthale
Meteorological Research Unit, Research and Development Department, The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgsvägen 17, 602 10 Norrköping, Sweden
Salomon Eliasson
Meteorological Research Unit, Research and Development Department, The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgsvägen 17, 602 10 Norrköping, Sweden
Erik Johansson
Meteorological Research Unit, Research and Development Department, The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgsvägen 17, 602 10 Norrköping, Sweden
Nina Håkansson
Meteorological Research Unit, Research and Development Department, The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgsvägen 17, 602 10 Norrköping, Sweden
Irina Solodovnik
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
Nikos Benas
R&D Satellite Observations, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Utrechtseweg 297, 3731 GA De Bilt, the Netherlands
Nicolas Clerbaux
Remote Sensing from Space, Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Nathalie Selbach
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
Marc Schröder
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
Rainer Hollmann
Satellite-Based Climate Monitoring, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067 Offenbach am Main, Germany
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- Deriving High-Resolution Estimation of TOA Net Shortwave Radiation Over Global Land Using Data From Multiple-Geostationary Satellites Y. Zheng et al. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2024.3440329
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51 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Satellite-Derived Summer Albedo Variations on the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1979 to 2024 Linked with Climatic Indices Y. Zhang et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18020295
- Four decades of global surface albedo estimates in the third edition of the CM SAF cLoud, Albedo and surface Radiation (CLARA) climate data record A. Riihelä et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1007-2024
- Introduction to a 45-year (1979–2023) global daily snow cover fraction product from multiple AVHRR satellites with accuracy assessment X. Xiao et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2026.115235
- Evaluation of Downward Shortwave Radiation Products Over the Loess Plateau Q. Tian et al. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2023.3346032
- Climate services in support of the German energy transition: Examples that make a difference F. Kaspar et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemets.2026.100036
- Machine-learning emergent constraints on surface albedo feedback over Arctic land regions L. Yu et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71779-0
- Middle East dust as an important external driver of the Indian Ocean Dipole G. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68842-1
- Statistical evaluation of a diversified surface solar irradiation data repository and forecasting using a recurrent neural network-hybrid model: A case study in Bhutan S. Gyeltshen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2025.122706
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- All-day global cloud physical properties products with 0.07° resolution retrieved from geostationary satellite imagers covering the period from 2000 to 2022 L. Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1813-2026
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- Long-term variations in solar resource under changing climate and air pollution: A review M. Wild et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2026.117008
- Estimation of Top-of-Atmosphere Net Radiation From AVHRR Data C. Zhan et al. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2025.3547834
- A 41-Year Global All-Sky Surface Longwave Radiation Components Dataset at 5 km and hourly Resolution Y. Du et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05886-w
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- Temporal stability of a new 40-year daily AVHRR land surface temperature dataset for the pan-Arctic region S. Dupuis et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-6027-2024
- Assessing climate variability and trends in global solar radiation over Saudi Arabia using the CLARA-A3 dataset A. Samman et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2025.106486
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- Validation and comparison of cloud properties retrieved from passive satellites over the Southern Ocean A. Kurup et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1487-2026
- How well do the regional atmospheric and oceanic models describe the Antarctic sea ice albedo? K. Verro et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4409-2025
- Spectral albedo, vegetation greenness, and radiative forcing responses of the Amazon to drought and wet conditions from 2005 to 2016 S. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111113
- Retrieval and Evaluation of Global Surface Albedo Based on AVHRR GAC Data of the Last 40 Years S. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17010117
- Integrating LGBM machine learning methods with SHAP model to explain the impact of different environmental factors on precipitation in China Y. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2025.106715
- Impact of Urbanization on Cloud Characteristics over Sofia, Bulgaria V. Danchovski https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16091631
- Optimizing Cloud Mask Accuracy over Snow-Covered Terrain with a Multistage Decision Tree Framework Q. Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243992
- Sea ice albedo bounded data assimilation and its impact on modeling: a regional approach J. Rotondo et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1523-2026
- Interlinks between sea-ice melting and continental wetting under a changing Arctic moisture transport T. Nakamura et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-026-01389-6
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 23 Jun 2026
Short summary
This paper presents a global climate data record on cloud parameters, radiation at the surface and at the top of atmosphere, and surface albedo. The temporal coverage is 1979–2020 (42 years) and the data record is also continuously updated until present time. Thus, more than four decades of climate parameters are provided. Based on CLARA-A3, studies on distribution of clouds and radiation parameters can be made and, especially, investigations of climate trends and evaluation of climate models.
This paper presents a global climate data record on cloud parameters, radiation at the surface...
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