HIRDLS Satellite Temperature Zonal Fourier Coefficients

Zonal Fourier coefficients for atmospheric temperature derived from the HIRDLS instrument aboard the Aura satellite. The dataset contains the entire mission's data, spanning approximately 3 years, processed by the GES DISC. Data was last updated in March 2008.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct global temperature fields at any longitude using the provided mean and up to 7 sine and cosine coefficients.
• Analyze diurnal temperature cycles by comparing ascending (daytime) and descending (nighttime) orbit node data fields.
• Study atmospheric wave activity across 121 pressure levels from 1000 to 0.0042 hPa.
• Validate Kalman filter retrieval algorithms using the precision values from root-mean-square differences.
• Investigate latitudinal temperature structure from -64 to 80 degrees in 1-degree bands.

Strengths

• Covers the entire HIRDLS mission duration of approximately 3 years.
• Provides data on 121 pressure levels with about 1 km vertical resolution.
• Includes separate data fields for ascending, descending, and combined orbit nodes.

Limitations

• Data is temporally stale, with the last update in 2008.
• Spatial coverage is limited from -64 to 80 degrees latitude, excluding polar regions.
• Data format is HDF-EOS5, which may require specialized libraries for access and processing.

Provenance

Source

GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center).

Collection Method

Coefficients computed from HIRDLS Level 2 profiles using a Kalman filter approach with forward and backward passes in time.

Time Range

Entire HIRDLS mission, approximately 3 years (exact dates not specified).

Freshness

null

Geography

Global coverage from -64 to 80 degrees latitude.