OML1BIRR: Solar Irradiance Measurements from the OMI Satellite

NASA's Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite provides calibrated solar irradiance data across three specific wavelength bands: UV1 (264-311 nm, 159 channels), UV2 (307-383 nm, 557 channels), and VIS (349-504 nm, 751 channels). The Level 1B product contains averaged, radiometrically calibrated, and geolocated measurements from solar observations, using a quartz volume diffuser to average out BRDF effects. Data is stored in HDF4 format with radiance values encoded as a 16-bit mantissa and an 8-bit exponent.

Use Cases

• Calibrating atmospheric retrieval algorithms using the precise solar irradiance reference.
• Studying spectral solar variability across the UV and visible wavelength ranges.
• Validating and improving radiative transfer models based on measured solar spectra.
• Analyzing long-term trends in solar output relevant to climate studies.

Strengths

• Provides highly specific spectral resolution across 1,467 total channels in three defined bands.
• Measurements are averaged along-track to mitigate solar elevation-dependent BRDF features of the diffuser.
• Archived and distributed by NASA's authoritative GES DISC center, indicating institutional credibility.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not provided in the metadata, hindering immediate analysis.
• Dataset size, row count, and temporal coverage are unspecified across all sources.
• Relies on a single measurement method (quartz volume diffuser), which may limit comparison with other datasets.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura spacecraft.

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-04-09 23:29:21.248745

Geography

Global and spatial zoom-in modes, from satellite orbit.