AIRS L3 Daily Support: Atmospheric Sounding Grids from Aqua Satellite

Aqua/AIRS L3 Daily Support Product provides 1-degree by 1-degree gridded atmospheric data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit aboard NASA's EOS Aqua satellite. The Level 3 support products contain fields which are not fully validated, including inputs and intermediary values for atmospheric profiles. Each grid cell value represents the sum of observations within the area divided by the number of points.

Use Cases

• Validating atmospheric models using gridded infrared and microwave sounding data.
• Analyzing daily global temperature and humidity profiles from satellite observations.
• Studying cloud properties and atmospheric composition using intermediary sensor values.
• Investigating climate trends with a long-term, spatially consistent Earth observation record.

Strengths

• Data originates from the NASA EOS Aqua satellite, a flagship Earth observation platform.
• Combines infrared (AIRS) and microwave (AMSU) sensors for improved atmospheric sounding.
• Provides global daily coverage at a consistent 1x1 degree spatial resolution.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in the available sources.
• The 'support product' nature indicates fields are not fully validated and may include inputs or intermediary values.
• Update dates conflict between sources (2026 on Data.gov vs. 2016 on NASA Earthdata), creating uncertainty about data freshness.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) aboard the EOS Aqua platform, processed to Level 3 daily gridded products.

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:53:04.222561

Geography

Global