SNDRAQIL3SDCCP: Daily Global Atmospheric Profiles from AIRS Satellite

CLIMCAPS algorithm retrieves full atmospheric state profiles from the AIRS grating spectrometer aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. This daily Level-3 product provides a global grid of temperature, water vapor, ozone, carbon monoxide, methane, and other trace gases at a horizontal resolution of 50 km. The dataset includes a critical warning for users regarding a bias in the 'co_mmr_midtrop' variable due to a molecular weight conversion error.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global carbon monoxide pollution transport based on retrieved column density profiles.
• Analyzing vertical temperature structure for weather forecasting using profiles at 100 levels from 1100 mb to 0.1 mb.
• Studying cloud properties and their radiative effects based on infrared effective cloud top characteristics.
• Tracking atmospheric methane concentrations for climate change research.
• Assimilating global water vapor profiles into numerical weather prediction models.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-parameter atmospheric state from a single source, including profiles for over ten key geophysical parameters.
• Offers high vertical resolution for temperature (100 levels) and a defined horizontal resolution of 50 km.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and established use in the scientific community.

Limitations

• Contains a documented, significant bias in the 'co_mmr_midtrop' variable requiring user correction.
• Metadata for row count, file size, and specific columns is incomplete or missing across all sources.
• The temporal coverage and update frequency for the data record are not explicitly stated.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Retrievals from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on the EOS Aqua satellite, processed using the CLIMCAPS Optimal Estimation algorithm.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:31:21.673518

Geography

Global