Daily aerosol optical thickness data over global oceans, derived from the Visible and Infrared Radiometer (VIRR) on the FY-3A satellite. The product provides measurements for four spectral bands, aerosol Angstrom coefficient, and associated geometry angles. It is organized into 10x10 degree geographic blocks with a 1-kilometer resolution and is produced by the SCIOPS organization.
Use Cases
- Analyzing temporal trends in aerosol optical thickness from the CH9, CH1, CH2, and CH6 bands over specific ocean regions.
- Correlating the aerosol Angstrom coefficient with sun zenith and sensor zenith angles to study particle size distribution.
- Mapping global daily aerosol load using the 1km resolution grid points and their geographic longitude/latitude projection.
- Filtering data quality by applying the provided processing flags to isolate reliable measurements for model validation.
Strengths
- Global spatial coverage over all ocean areas.
- Provides four specific aerosol optical thickness bands (CH9, CH1, CH2, CH6) and the Angstrom coefficient.
- Includes supporting geometry data: sun zenith, sensor zenith, sun azimuth, and sensor azimuth angles.
Limitations
- Spatial resolution is 1km, which may be coarse for studying fine-scale aerosol features.
- Data is limited to ocean surfaces only, with no coverage over land.
- Specific row count, file size, and temporal range are unknown from the description.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Earthdata (platform), data product from SCIOPS organization.
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing via the FY-3A spacecraft's Visible and Infrared Radiometer (VIRR).
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Daily update frequency.
- Geography
- Global coverage over ocean surfaces, divided into 10x10 degree longitude/latitude blocks.