EMIT L3 Aggregated Mineral Spectral Abundance and Uncertainty 0.5 Deg

EMIT L3 Aggregated Mineral Spectral Abundance and Uncertainty Version 1 provides aggregated spectral abundance data for 10 key minerals from the Earth's arid dust source regions. The data product consists of 22 Science Dataset layers at a 0.5-degree spatial resolution, derived from the EMIT instrument on the International Space Station. It was last updated by NASA on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Mapping global mineral dust source composition based on the 10 EMIT-focus minerals.
• Analyzing spectral abundance uncertainty for climate modeling based on the provided uncertainty layers.
• Studying soil chemistry in arid regions between 52° N and 52° S latitude based on the described spatial coverage.

Strengths

• Focuses on 10 specific minerals (calcite, chlorite, dolomite, goethite, gypsum, hematite, illite+muscovite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, vermiculite) relevant to dust source studies.
• Provides 22 Science Dataset layers, including both abundance and uncertainty for each mineral.
• Data is aggregated at a consistent 0.5-degree spatial resolution.

Limitations

• Spectral abundance is a measure of optical abundance, not mass fraction, limiting direct use for mass calculations.
• Known algorithmic issues may cause spurious values over bare playas, with some areas excluded from aggregation.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Derived from EMIT L2B Estimated Mineral Identification data, aggregated from 60 m pixels to 0.5-degree grid cells after controlling for bare soil fractional cover.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:08:40.341926; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sunlit regions of interest between 52° N latitude and 52° S latitude, focusing on Earth's arid dust source regions.