ATMOSL1: Atmospheric Trace Gas Spectra from Four Shuttle Missions

Four space shuttle missions (STS-51B, STS-45, STS-55, STS-66) collected infrared transmission spectra from 1985 to 1994. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration produced this Level 1 product containing ratioed spectra and runlog information in netCDF format. Data files include time, geolocation, and are grouped by mission and occultation type.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical concentrations of ozone-depleting molecules based on infrared transmission spectra.
• Model atmospheric trace gas profiles based on geolocation and time data.
• Compare atmospheric conditions across four distinct shuttle missions.
• Validate satellite-derived atmospheric chemistry models based on high sun observation spectra.

Strengths

• Data collected during four distinct shuttle missions spanning 1985 to 1994.
• Spectra are ratioed from high sun observations on a 0 to 1 scale.
• Files include time and geolocation information.
• Data is grouped by mission and occultation type (sunrise or sunset).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the four specific shuttle missions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the ATMOS Fourier transform interferometer on space shuttle missions.

Time Range

April 30, 1985 to November 12, 1994

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:56:55.232885; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from shuttle orbits.