OMGLER: Global Surface Reflectance for OMI Atmospheric Algorithms

OMI/Aura Global Geometry-Dependent Surface LER (OMGLER) provides geometry-dependent surface reflectance and computed top-of-atmosphere radiance for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument's field of view. The product is designed to replace climatologies and serves as a key input for cloud, aerosol, and trace gas retrieval algorithms. Each file contains data for the daylit portion of a single orbit, with approximately 14 files generated per day.

Use Cases

• Improving cloud detection algorithms based on geometry-dependent surface reflectance (GLER).
• Refining aerosol optical depth retrievals using ancillary input parameters per pixel.
• Enhancing trace gas column density calculations by replacing static LER climatologies.
• Validating atmospheric radiation models with top-of-atmosphere radiance data.

Strengths

• Algorithm developed by a named scientist (Wenhan Qin) with a clear product lead (Joanna J. Joiner).
• Data is produced in a standard scientific format (HDF-EOS5) with a consistent file size (~9 MB).
• Provides a direct, geometry-dependent input to replace less accurate climatologies in existing workflows.

Limitations

• Column-level metadata is completely unknown across all sources, limiting precise understanding of data structure.
• Conflicting license information: one source specifies 'other-license-specified', while another lists 'None'.
• No row counts, total size, or detailed temporal coverage are provided.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite measurement from the OMI instrument aboard the Aura spacecraft, processed to Level 2 swath data.

Time Range

Covers the daylit portion of individual orbits (~53 minutes each).

Freshness

Last updated: 2026-04 09 23:29:41.268181

Geography

Global swath coverage from the OMI field of view at 13x24 km pixel resolution.