AIRS Infrared Radiances with 2645 Spectral Channels

2645 spectral channels from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder aboard the Aqua satellite provide calibrated infrared radiances for the entire globe twice daily. Each day's data is divided into 240 granules, each containing 12,150 pixels with a nadir resolution of 13.5 km². This Near Real Time product is processed by NASA's GES DISC to meet a three-hour latency requirement.

Use Cases

• Comparative studies with other infrared measurements using the 2645 spectral channels.
• Weather-climate research utilizing the twice-daily global coverage and geolocated radiances.
• Near Real Time monitoring of atmospheric conditions leveraging the three-hour latency processing.
• Analysis of spectral radiance gaps corrected by the Level 1C processing method.

Strengths

• High spectral resolution with 2645 channels sampled twice per resolution element.
• Global coverage twice daily from a sun-synchronous orbit with 13.5 km² nadir resolution.
• Near Real Time processing designed for a three-hour latency requirement.

Limitations

• Granule production for NRT may omit adjacent granules if not available within 5 minutes, potentially affecting continuity.
• Conflicting metadata: one source lists a last updated date of 2026-03-13, which is implausible and indicates a data error.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Data gathered by the AIRS grating spectrometer aboard the EOS Aqua satellite, processed from Level 1B to Level 1C.

Freshness

2026-03-13 19:08:10.117773 (from datagov, but this future date is likely an error)

Geography

Global coverage.