AIRS/Aqua L3 Quantization: 5-Day Atmospheric Profiles on a 5-Degree Grid
Updated 1mo ago
10filesBIN
Available on 2 platforms
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Description
AIRS/Aqua L3 5-day quantization products provide statistical summaries of atmospheric variables over a global 5° x 5° grid. Each grid cell contains a floating-point mean map, a corresponding standard deviation map, and an integer count map for generating custom multi-day composites. Parameters include skin temperature, air and water vapor profiles, cloud properties, and total amounts of carbon monoxide, methane, and ozone.
Use Cases
Analyzing global five-day trends in atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles based on gridded mean and standard deviation maps.
Tracking spatial and temporal distributions of trace gases like carbon monoxide and methane using the provided total column and profile data.
Studying cloud characteristics, including cloud top pressure and vertical distribution, across different geographic regions.
Creating custom aggregated climate maps over user-defined periods using the per-bin count data included with each statistical layer.
Strengths
Provides three complementary data layers (mean, standard deviation, count) per variable, enabling custom aggregation and uncertainty analysis.
Covers a comprehensive suite of over 15 thermodynamic and trace gas parameters, as listed in the description.
Data is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata), indicating established use and validation.
Limitations
Specific column names and file schemas are not provided in the metadata; users must infer them from separate Processing File Description documents.
Conflicting 'last updated' timestamps exist between sources (2026-04-10 on Data.gov vs. 2016-09-26 on NASA Earthdata), creating uncertainty about data currency.
Core metadata such as row count, file size, and detailed license terms are unspecified across all platforms.
Provenance
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Collection Method
Satellite remote sensing data from the AIRS instrument aboard the EOS Aqua platform, processed into Level 3 gridded quantization products.
Freshness
2026-04-10 17:13:13.732357 (from Data.gov, though this future date may be an error)
Geography
Global coverage from -180.0 to +180.0 degrees longitude and -90.0 to +90.0 degrees latitude.
License is listed as 'other-license-specified'; users must consult NASA's official data use policy. The future-dated 'last updated' metadata on Data.gov is likely erroneous and should be verified.