TES/Aura L2 Methane Nadir V008: Satellite Atmospheric Profiles

TL2CH4N_8 is the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)/Aura Level 2 Methane Nadir Version 8 data product from NASA. It contains retrieved vertical profiles of methane concentration and estimated errors from nadir-pointing satellite observations, along with geolocation, quality flags, and surface characteristics. The data are derived from a retrieval process comparing observed infrared spectra to radiative transfer models.

Use Cases

• Mapping global tropospheric methane concentrations based on retrieved species profiles.
• Analyzing temporal trends in atmospheric methane using time-series observations from consecutive orbits.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models with satellite-derived methane profile data and estimated errors.
• Studying surface-atmosphere interactions using ancillary surface characteristics provided for nadir observations.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete, providing a definitive record from the TES instrument mission.
• Each global survey cycle performed 3,200 individual atmospheric retrievals, offering detailed spatial sampling.
• Product includes estimated errors for the retrieved methane profiles, supporting uncertainty analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all platforms.
• Platforms conflict on the 'last updated' date (2018 vs. 2026), casting doubt on metadata freshness.
• The dataset's operational period and exact temporal coverage are not explicitly stated.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Aura satellite, Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via nadir observations, with atmospheric parameters retrieved through iterative radiative transfer model comparison.

Time Range

Coverage spans from the Aura satellite launch on July 15, 2004, through the completion of TES data collection. Specific end date is not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:25:12.567210 (from datagov, but conflicts with nasa_earthdata date of 2018-01-22)

Geography

Global, from observations along 16 consecutive orbits per global survey cycle.