FIRE Cirrus 1: Surface Radiation Budget Data over Alaska

Alaska and the Arctic region from 55°N to 90°N and 175°W to 135°W are covered by this dataset. It contains spatially sampled imaging data from the First ISCCP Regional Experiment, with a nominal 25 km resolution and 4 km pixel field of view, processed from NOAA satellite B3 radiance data. The data was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Validate and improve cloud property parameterizations in climate models based on high-resolution satellite radiance data.
• Study the life cycles and radiative properties of cirrus cloud systems over the Arctic region.
• Investigate relationships between satellite observations at different spatial and temporal resolutions for cloud process studies.

Strengths

• Data is reported at original pixel resolution, providing detailed information about the algorithm decision.
• Covers a specific Arctic region (55°N to 90°N, 175°W to 135°W) with spatially sampled imaging data.
• Combines coordinated satellite, airborne, and surface observations from a designed intensive field observation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified; the last update date is 2026-03-13.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Results from ISCCP analysis of NOAA satellite B3 radiance data, combined with coordinated satellite, airborne, and surface observations.

Time Range

Primary data collection corresponds to the First ISCCP Regional Experiment cirrus IFO from October 13 to November 2, 1986.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:46:29.362797

Geography

Alaska and Arctic region: 55°N to 90°N latitude, 175°W to 135°W longitude.