TL2PANLN_7: TES/Aura Satellite Atmospheric Temperature Profiles

TES/Aura L2 Peroxyacyl Nitrate Lite Nadir V007 contains atmospheric vertical profile estimates from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer on NASA's Aura satellite. The dataset provides retrieved temperature profiles, species volume mixing ratios, and associated error metrics for each observation target. A global survey consists of observations from up to 16 consecutive orbits, performing approximately 3,200 retrievals per two-day cycle.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature profiles and their precision across pressure levels.
• Studying atmospheric composition changes using retrieved species Volume Mixing Ratios (VMR).
• Validating climate models with satellite-derived geolocated atmospheric data.
• Assessing retrieval algorithm performance using provided covariance and averaging kernel matrices.

Strengths

• Provides detailed error metrics, including precision, total error, and vertical resolution for each retrieval.
• Contains a mapping matrix to relate retrieval vectors to the forward model pressure grid, supporting advanced analysis.
• Based on a systematic global survey design with up to 16 consecutive orbits and approximately 3,200 retrievals per cycle.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not specified in the provided metadata.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2015-12-31 and 2026-04-09), creating uncertainty about data freshness.
• The dataset's size and row count are unknown, hindering an assessment of its scale.

Provenance

Source

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on NASA's Aura satellite, processed by LARC_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via limb and nadir observations, with retrievals from radiative transfer modeling.

Time Range

Observations include a change in scan protocol after April 24, 2005, but specific start/end dates are not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:38:26.216396 (most recent date mentioned, though conflicting with an earlier date)

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbits.