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Five CERES scanning radiometers have been flown to date. The Proto-Flight Model flew aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission spacecraft in November 1997. Two CERES instruments, Flight Models (FM) 1 and 2, are aboard the Terra spacecraft, which was launched in December 1999. Two more CERES instruments, FM-3 and FM-4, are on the Aqua spacecraft, which was placed in orbit in May 2002. These instruments continue to operate after providing over a decade of Earth Radiation Budget data. The CERES FM-5 instrument, onboard the Suomi-NPP spacecraft, launched in October 2011. The CERES FM- 6 instrument is manifested on the JPPS-1 spacecraft to be launched in December 2016. A successor to these instruments is presently in the definition stage. This paper describes the evolving role of flight software in the operation of these instruments to meet the Science objectives of the mission and also the ability to
execute supplemental tasks as they evolve. In order to obtain and maintain high accuracy in the data products from these instruments, a number of operational activities have been developed and implemented since the instruments were originally designed and placed in orbit. These new activities are possible because of the ability to exploit and modify the flight software, which operates the instruments. The CERES Flight Software interface was designed to allow for on-orbit modification, and as such, constantly evolves to meet changing needs. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of modifications which have been developed to allow dedicated targeting of specific geographic locations as the CERES sensor flies overhead on its host spacecraft. This new observing strategy greatly increases the temporal and angular sampling for specific targets of high scientific interest.
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