Global Cloud Liquid Water Path from ADEOS-II Satellite

JAXA's ADEOS-II/GLI L3 dataset provides global measurements of cloud liquid water path derived from the GLI sensor's reflection method. The data is binned at a 1/4-degree spatial resolution with a 16-day statistical period. This product, Version 2, was generated from observations by the Midori II satellite, with the last update recorded in October 2003.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of the 'cloud liquid water path' feature to study global cloud distribution and its role in the Earth's radiation budget.
• Validate climate model outputs by comparing simulated cloud water content against the binned statistical data (sum, square sum, max, min) over the 16-day periods.
• Investigate temporal changes in cloud properties by utilizing the time-series nature of the 16-day binned global maps.
• Study cloud microphysics by applying the reflection method, which uses radiances from specific GLI channels (13, 30, 35) to derive cloud layer properties.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage generated for each 16-day bin.
• Provides multiple statistical aggregations per pixel, including sum, square sum, max, and min.
• Data is derived from a dedicated sensor (GLI) with a 1600 km swath, designed for environmental monitoring.

Limitations

• Data is temporally stale, with the last update in 2003, limiting analysis of recent climate trends.
• The 16-day and 1-month binning periods average out higher-frequency cloud variability.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column schema are unknown, complicating initial data assessment.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Collection Method

Remote sensing data obtained from the GLI (Global Imager) sensor onboard the ADEOS-II (Midori II) satellite, processed using a reflection method on specific channels.

Time Range

Coverage corresponds to the ADEOS-II operational period, with data processed up to October 2003.

Freshness

Static dataset last updated on 2003-10-25.

Geography

Global coverage with a spatial resolution of 1/4 degree.