NASA Aqua Project: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) Level 1B Radiance Data

AIRS is a grating spectrometer aboard the EOS Aqua satellite, launched on May 4, 2002. The AIRS Infrared Level 1B dataset contains calibrated and geolocated radiances for 2378 infrared channels in the 3.74 to 15.4 micron spectrum region. Data is organized into 6-minute granules, with 30 footprints cross track by 45 lines along track.

Use Cases

• Improving numerical weather prediction models based on high-resolution atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles.
• Researching long-term climate trends based on infrared radiance measurements spanning over two decades.
• Calibrating and validating other satellite or ground-based remote sensing instruments using the AIRS spectral data.
• Studying atmospheric phenomena like clouds, water vapor, and trace gases based on the 2378-channel infrared spectra.

Strengths

• Provides data from 2378 distinct infrared channels, offering high spectral resolution for atmospheric profiling.
• Operational since 2002, offering a long-term record for climate studies.
• Data is integrated with co-aligned Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) and Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB) sensors.

Limitations

• A 2021 spacecraft maneuver caused spectral shifts affecting brightness temperatures for some channels; users concerned may need to switch to a corrected product.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite.

Collection Method

Collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument.

Time Range

From May 4, 2002 onward.

Freshness

Data is updated with new 6-minute granules, but the last update date for the catalog entry is unknown.

Geography

Global coverage.