SAGE III Satellite Monthly Polar Cloud Presence Data

December 2001 to March 2006 monthly data from the SAGE III instrument on the Meteor-3M satellite. This dataset compiles polar cloud presence information coincident with solar occultation events, providing profiles of cloud formations, aerosols, and trace gases in the upper troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere. The instrument was a key part of NASA's Earth Observing System, with a vertical resolution of 0.5 to 1 kilometer.

Use Cases

• Analyzing monthly polar cloud frequency and presence over the mission's time range.
• Studying the vertical distribution and height of cloud formations in the upper atmosphere.
• Correlating cloud presence data with concurrent measurements of aerosol extinction, ozone, and water vapor profiles.
• Investigating long-term changes in polar cloud properties from a satellite-borne solar occultation instrument.

Strengths

• Provides a 4+ year continuous monthly record from December 2001 to March 2006.
• Data originates from a NASA EOS satellite instrument with a high vertical resolution of 0.5-1 km.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earth Data and Data.gov indicates recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Specific column names and dataset size/row counts are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (2005-12 31 vs. 2026-03-12), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

NASA Langley Research Center Cloud group (LARC_CLOUD) via the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) on the Meteor-3M satellite.

Collection Method

Satellite-borne solar occultation measurements compiled into monthly Level 2 data products.

Time Range

2001-12 to 2006-03

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:46:01.519469

Geography

Polar regions (implied by data capture of solar event granules).