Aqua Satellite Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Monthly Gridded Data

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) data provides monthly gridded Level 3 support products from the Aqua satellite. The dataset contains infrared and microwave atmospheric sounding measurements, though some fields are not fully validated and may include values from failed retrievals. The data is produced by NASA's Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).

Use Cases

• Analyzing global atmospheric temperature profiles using infrared radiance measurements.
• Studying water vapor distribution and cloud properties from the combined AIRS and AMSU sensor data.
• Validating climate models with gridded, monthly-averaged satellite observations over a 1x1 degree spatial resolution.

Strengths

• Data originates from a sophisticated grating spectrometer (R=1200) aboard the well-established EOS Aqua satellite.
• Products combine infrared (AIRS) and microwave (AMSU) sensors for a more complete atmospheric profile.

Limitations

• Some fields are labeled as not fully validated and may include inputs, intermediary values, or results from failed retrievals.
• Conflicting metadata exists for the last update date (2016-10-01 on NASA EarthData vs. 2026-03-13 on Data.gov).
• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) aboard the Aqua satellite, processed into Level 3 monthly gridded support products.

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:51:44.715043

Geography

Global coverage with a 1 degree x 1 degree spatial grid.