AIRS/Aqua Near Real Time Visible/Near Infrared Quality Assurance Subset

Global data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) Visible/Near Infrared instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, providing Near Real Time quality assurance parameters. The dataset is produced by the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) to meet a three-hour latency requirement for the LANCE system. It contains specific flags for assessing data quality and identifying solar glint contamination.

Use Cases

• Filtering AIRS VIS/NIR Level 1B radiance data by checking the 'state' parameter to ensure data validity.
• Identifying and mitigating solar glint contamination in radiance measurements using the 'glintlat', 'glintlon', and 'sun_glint_distant' columns.
• Supporting rapid atmospheric analysis and assimilation into weather forecast models by providing timely quality flags.
• Comparing Near Real Time data quality against the definitive routine product (AIRVBQAP_005) to understand latency trade-offs.

Strengths

• Designed for low latency, meeting a three-hour delivery requirement for the LANCE system.
• Provides specific, instrument-derived quality flags ('state', 'glintlat', 'glintlon', 'sun_glint_distant') for data filtering.
• Data originates from a well-calibrated instrument suite (AIRS VIS/NIR, AMSU, HSB) on the established Aqua satellite platform.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, total size, and specific column details are unavailable across all sources.
• The NRT product uses predictive rather than definitive ephemeris/attitude data and may be produced without adjacent granules, potentially impacting data continuity.
• Source conflict: The last_updated date from datagov (2026-03-13) is implausibly in the future and conflicts with the lack of date from other sources.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from the AIRS Visible/Near Infrared instrument on the Aqua spacecraft.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global coverage from a near-polar Sun-synchronous orbit.