TOMS Nimbus-7: Global UV-B Erythemal Irradiance on a 1-Degree Grid

Nimbus-7 satellite data provides monthly-averaged UV-B erythemal local noon irradiance mapped to a global 180 x 288 cell grid. The 1.00 x 1.25 degree lat-long resolution offers a consistent spatial framework for analyzing surface ultraviolet radiation. These measurements are foundational for studying ozone depletion, atmospheric chemistry, and human health risks from sun exposure.

Use Cases

• Tracking long-term changes in surface UV radiation based on monthly global averages.
• Modeling human and ecosystem UV exposure risks using geospatially mapped irradiance values.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models with satellite-derived erythemal irradiance data.
• Correlating ozone layer dynamics with ground-level UV-B intensity across different regions.

Strengths

• Provides a standardized global grid of 51,840 cells (180 x 288) for consistent spatial analysis.
• Data originates from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Laboratory for Atmospheres, a authoritative source.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals established scientific use.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts: last update date is listed as both 1993-04-30 and 2026-04-09.
• Column names and specific data formats (beyond ASCII) are not described, hindering precise use.
• Dataset size and row counts are unknown across all sources.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected by the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite instrument.

Freshness

Conflicting: 1993-04-30 (nasa_earthdata) and 2026-04-09 (datagov).

Geography

Global coverage on a 1.00 x 1.25 degree latitude/longitude grid.