Monthly Binned Aerosol Optical Thickness from GCOM-C Satellite

Aerosol optical thickness measurements are derived from the SGLI sensor onboard the JAXA GCOM-C satellite. The Level 3 product provides monthly binned statistics, including average, RMS, maximum, and minimum values, at a spatial resolution of 1/12 degree. The dataset is produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from observations beginning after the satellite's launch in December 2017.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial and temporal trends in aerosol optical thickness (AOT) using the monthly binned average (AVE) and root-mean-square (RMS) statistics.
• Assess data quality and reliability for specific regions by examining the number of input data (Ninput), number of used data (Nused), and the quality flag (QA_flag).
• Model aerosol transport by comparing maximum (MAX) and minimum (MIN) AOT values over oceans (AOTO) and land (AOTL, AOTP) across different seasons.
• Validate climate models by correlating the satellite-derived AOT time-series with ground-based measurements and other satellite products.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage with a 1/12-degree resolution grid.
• Includes multiple statistical measures (AVE, RMS, MAX, MIN, Ninput, Nused) for robust analysis.
• Data integrates three specific aerosol products (AOTO, AOTL, AOTP) for comprehensive coverage over different surfaces.

Limitations

• The spatial resolution of 1/12 degree is coarser than some other satellite aerosol products.
• Specific row count, file size, and exact temporal coverage are not provided in the description.
• The description does not specify the frequency of dataset updates or the most recent data available.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Collection Method

Derived from Level 1B and Level 2 products from the SGLI sensor on the GCOM-C satellite, statistically processed in time and space.

Time Range

Observations began after the satellite launch on December 23, 2017; specific end date not provided.

Freshness

Monthly binned product; update frequency is not specified.

Geography

Global coverage.