AQUA AIRS CLIMCAPS: Atmospheric State Profiles from Infrared and Microwave Sounding

CLIMCAPS algorithm retrieves full atmospheric state profiles from the AIRS and AMSU instruments aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The temperature profile has a vertical resolution of 100 levels between 1100 mb and 0.1 mb, with a horizontal resolution of 50 km. Retrieved parameters include surface properties, cloud characteristics, and profiles of temperature, water vapor, ozone, carbon monoxide, methane, and carbon dioxide.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global tropospheric carbon monoxide levels using retrieved column density values.
• Analyzing vertical temperature and moisture profiles for weather and climate model validation.
• Studying cloud properties and their radiative effects based on infrared effective cloud top characteristics.
• Tracking atmospheric methane and ozone concentrations as part of climate change research.

Strengths

• Provides a vertically detailed atmospheric state with a temperature profile at 100 pressure levels.
• Combines infrared and microwave sensor data for a more complete retrieval under various conditions.
• Dataset is maintained by NASA, a major space agency, and includes a documented correction for a known bias.

Limitations

• Contains a significant, documented bias in the 'co_mmr_midtrop' variable requiring user correction.
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in the available metadata.
• The last update date (2026-04-09) appears to be a future date, indicating a potential metadata error.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Retrieved via the CLIMCAPS algorithm from the AIRS and AMSU instruments on the EOS Aqua satellite.

Freshness

Last updated date is listed as 2026-04-09, which is a future date and may be incorrect.

Geography

Global coverage with a horizontal resolution of 50 km.