UARS WINDII: Daily Upper Atmosphere Wind and Temperature Profiles

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) Level 3AT data provides daily vertical profiles of meridional and zonal wind components and temperature. The instrument measured Doppler shifts in visible light to capture data between 80 and 300 km altitude with approximately 5 km resolution. Data collection alternated between latitude bands 40S-72N and 72S-40N over satellite yaw cycles of about 36 days.

Use Cases

• Analyzing meridional and zonal wind patterns in the upper atmosphere based on daily vertical profiles.
• Studying temperature variations between 80 and 300 km altitude based on interferometer measurements.
• Investigating satellite yaw cycle effects on data coverage based on alternating latitude band collection.
• Validating atmospheric models using wind and temperature data with approximately 5 km vertical resolution.

Strengths

• Provides vertical profiles at defined altitude levels from 5 km to 300 km, offering structured atmospheric data.
• Contains three data granules per day, each accompanied by a separate parameter file (Level 3TP) for ancillary information.
• Data processed with a specific algorithm version (version 11), indicating a defined processing standard.

Limitations

• Column names are unknown across all sources, limiting precise understanding of data structure.
• Row counts and dataset size are unspecified, obscuring the total volume of data.
• Metadata freshness is conflicting: one source lists an update in 2026, another in 1997, suggesting potential inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), instrument: Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII).

Collection Method

Remote sensing via a Michelson interferometer measuring Doppler shifts of spectral lines between 550 and 780 nm.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:17:13.911950

Geography

Latitude bands alternating between 40S-72N and 72S-40N; altitude range 80-300 km.