SAFARI 2000 Tropospheric Ozone Data from TOMS Satellite

NASA's Earth Probe TOMS satellite captured this dataset of tropical tropospheric ozone over southern Africa during the SAFARI 2000 dry season aircraft campaign. The data consists of 9-day averaged, gridded measurements at a 1-degree by 2-degree resolution, processed by the NASA/GSFC Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch. It covers a specific seven-week period from August 8 to September 29, 2000.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of tropospheric ozone column thickness in Dobson Units over southern Africa.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models using 9-day averaged, gridded satellite measurements.
• Studying the relationship between UV-absorbing aerosols and ozone during the SAFARI 2000 dry season campaign.
• Investigating the impact of the Earth Probe satellite's unique lower orbit (500-740 km) on measurement resolution for tropospheric constituents.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a specialized NASA spacecraft (Earth Probe TOMS) designed for ozone retrieval.
• Measurements use the modified-residual method to separate stratospheric from tropospheric ozone, a specific scientific technique.
• The satellite's lower orbit (500-740 km) provided a smaller measurement footprint, increasing spatial resolution.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a short, specific campaign period (August 8-September 29, 2000).
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one showing 2000-09-29 and another showing 2026-03-12, suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.
• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch at NASA/GSFC, processed for the SAFARI 2000 Dry Season Aircraft Campaign.

Collection Method

Derived from Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite data using the modified-residual method.

Time Range

2000-08-08 to 2000-09-29

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:14:56.931939

Geography

Southern Africa (tropical tropospheric focus), gridded at 1-degree by 2-degree resolution.