Daily aerosol optical thickness data over global oceans is derived from the FY-3A satellite's MERSI sensor. Each 10x10 degree geographic block contains 1km resolution grid points with measurements for 12 spectral bands and associated geometric angles. The product is generated by the SCIOPS organization.
Use Cases
- Modeling aerosol transport over oceans using daily aerosol optical thickness and Angstrom coefficient fields.
- Analyzing diurnal or seasonal aerosol patterns by correlating optical thickness with sun zenith angle and data acquisition time.
- Assessing retrieval algorithm performance across different view geometries using sensor zenith and azimuth angles.
- Filtering data quality for specific regions or conditions using the included processing flags.
Strengths
- Global spatial coverage over all oceans.
- High spatial resolution of 1 kilometer per grid point.
- Provides aerosol data for 12 specific spectral bands (CH6-14, 18-20).
Limitations
- Data is limited to aerosol measurements over ocean surfaces only.
- Specific row count, temporal range, and data completeness are unknown.
- Potential for data gaps due to cloud cover or sensor issues is not quantified.
Provenance
- Source
- SCIence Operations (SCIOPS) via NASA Earthdata.
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing data from the FY-3A satellite's Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI).
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Daily update frequency.
- Geography
- Global coverage over ocean surfaces.