GloSSAC: A 42-Year Global Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology

GloSSAC is a global, gap-free climatology of stratospheric aerosol properties spanning multiple decades. It primarily provides aerosol extinction coefficient measurements at 525 and 1020 nm, synthesized from satellite instruments like SAGE, OSIRIS, and CALIPSO, supplemented by ground-based, airborne, and balloon-borne data. The dataset is designed to offer a continuous long-term record for analyzing stratospheric aerosol loading and its changes.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in stratospheric aerosol loading based on the 42-year time series.
• Studying the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols after volcanic eruptions using the global, gap-free data.
• Validating climate model simulations of stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficients.
• Investigating the radiative forcing of climate from specific aerosol types measured at key wavelengths (525 nm, 1020 nm).

Strengths

• Provides a 42-year continuous time series, offering a long-term perspective on stratospheric changes.
• Integrates data from multiple satellite and in-situ platforms to create a global, gap-free product.
• Managed by a authoritative organization (NASA), indicating a high standard of data curation.

Limitations

• Column names and detailed data structure are not provided in the available metadata.
• Sources conflict on the dataset's temporal span (42 years vs. 38 years) and last update date (2026 vs. 2016).
• The specific license terms under 'other-license-specified' are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Synthesized from satellite instruments (SAGE series, OSIRIS, CALIPSO) and supplemented by ground-based, airborne, and balloon-borne instruments.

Time Range

42 years (span implied by climatology description, though a source cites 38 years)

Freshness

2026-04-10 02:22:49.493025 (from datagov, though this is a future date which may be an error)

Geography

Global