NASA's PACE SPEXone Level-3 dataset provides global mapped aerosol and ocean color properties using the FastMAPOL algorithm. The data includes aerosol optical thickness, single scattering albedo, chlorophyll-a concentration, and ocean reflectance across multiple spectral bands. The algorithm uses a coupled atmosphere-ocean radiative-transfer model accelerated by deep neural networks for near real-time processing.
Use Cases
- Modeling aerosol transport by correlating aerosol_layer_height (alh) with wind_speed over ocean regions.
- Analyzing marine phytoplankton dynamics by mapping chlorophyll-a concentration (chla_mapol) from angular remote sensing reflectance (Rrs1/Rrs2).
- Characterizing aerosol particle size and composition using fine/coarse mode effective radius (reff_fine/reff_coarse) and refractive index (mr/mi).
- Studying aerosol radiative effects by calculating aerosol optical thickness (aot) and single scattering albedo (ssa) for climate forcing estimates.
- Investigating aerosol source types by analyzing the Ångström exponent (angstrom) and fine mode fraction (fmf) over different ocean basins.
Strengths
- Provides 20+ core geophysical variables for simultaneous aerosol and ocean characterization.
- Algorithm employs deep neural networks to accelerate a coupled atmosphere-ocean vector radiative-transfer model.
- Delivers near real-time (NRT) data for timely environmental monitoring.
Limitations
- Data coverage is limited to over-ocean regions, excluding land-based aerosol observations.
- Specific row counts, temporal range, and spatial resolution are not provided in the description.
- Algorithm accuracy depends on the neural network training and may have region-specific biases.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA PACE SPEXone instrument, processed by OB_CLOUD using the FastMAPOL algorithm version 3.0.
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing retrievals using a coupled atmosphere-ocean radiative-transfer model accelerated by deep neural networks.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Near real-time (NRT)
- Geography
- Global, over-ocean