AIRS2SUP_NRT_7.0: Near Real-Time Atmospheric Profiles

AIRS2SUP_NRT_7.0 provides atmospheric profiles with 100 vertical levels between 1100 and .016 mb to meet a three-hour latency requirement. This Near Real Time Support Retrieval product uses AIRS infrared-only data due to increased radiometric noise in the companion microwave instrument since June 2007. It contains higher-resolution profiles, intermediate retrieval outputs, trace gas abundances, and detailed quality assessment information intended for forward radiance modeling.

Use Cases

• Forward radiance modeling based on the 100-level high-resolution atmospheric profiles.
• Examining trace gas abundance trends based on the included research products.
• Near real-time atmospheric monitoring for operational systems based on the three-hour latency design.
• Quality assessment of satellite retrievals based on the detailed quality information included.
• Comparative analysis of microwave-only and infrared-only retrievals based on the intermediate outputs.

Strengths

• Provides 100 vertical levels of atmospheric data, offering high vertical resolution for modeling.
• Designed for a three-hour latency, supporting near real-time operational and research applications.
• Contains detailed quality assessment information and intermediate retrieval outputs for algorithm development.

Limitations

• No ice cloud properties retrievals are performed in the NRT version.
• Granules may be produced without adjacent data if not available within five minutes, potentially affecting continuity.
• Metadata completeness is low; column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unknown across all sources.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data gathered by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), a grating spectrometer (R = 1200) aboard the EOS Aqua satellite.

Time Range

Data collection likely began after June 2007, when the product shifted to AIRS-only due to AMSU noise.

Freshness

Last updated metadata indicates 2026-03-13 on datagov.

Geography

Global coverage from the polar-orbiting EOS Aqua platform.