TOMSEPL3mref: Monthly Global UV Surface Reflectivity Grid

180 rows by 288 columns of monthly averaged Lambertian effective surface reflectivity values, mapped to a global grid with a 1.00 x 1.25 degree lat-long resolution. This Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Version 8 product provides Rayleigh-corrected data in ASCII format, produced by NASA's Laboratory for Atmospheres. The dataset supports the study of atmospheric radiation and surface properties.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface UV albedo based on Rayleigh-corrected reflectivity values.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of atmospheric radiation using a consistent global grid.
• Validating climate and atmospheric models with satellite-derived surface reflectivity data.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent global grid of 51,840 data points (180 x 288) per monthly snapshot.
• Data is produced by NASA's Laboratory for Atmospheres (Code 614), indicating authoritative provenance.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals established use and importance.

Limitations

• Source platforms conflict on update dates, with one showing 2005 and others showing 2026, creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Column names and specific data formats (beyond ASCII) are not detailed in the provided metadata.
• The dataset's temporal coverage (start and end dates) is not specified.

Provenance

Source

Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Code 614)

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the Earth Probe (EP) Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), processed to Version 8.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:32:07.509012

Geography

Global