TOMS Meteor-3: Daily Global Surface Reflectivity Grid

1994 data from the Meteor-3 satellite's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) provides daily, global measurements of Lambertian effective surface reflectivity. The data are Rayleigh-corrected and mapped to a consistent 1.00 x 1.25 degree latitude/longitude grid, comprising 180 rows by 288 columns. This dataset is produced by NASA's Laboratory for Atmospheres and is stored in ASCII format.

Use Cases

• Calibrating atmospheric correction models based on Rayleigh-corrected surface reflectivity values.
• Analyzing global surface albedo patterns using the 1.00 x 1.25 degree gridded data.
• Supporting ozone column retrieval algorithms by providing background reflectivity data.
• Studying temporal changes in Earth's reflectivity from a specific satellite instrument record.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent, daily global grid with a defined resolution of 1.00 x 1.25 degrees.
• Data is produced by an authoritative source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory for Atmospheres.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData suggests established use and importance.

Limitations

• Metadata conflict: last update dates are inconsistent (1994 vs. 2026), creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Column names and exact data structure are not specified in the provided metadata.
• The dataset appears to be a single snapshot from 1994, offering limited temporal coverage.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Meteor-3 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS).

Time Range

1994

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:31:41.090020 (from Data.gov, but conflicts with 1994 date from NASA EarthData)

Geography

Global