VIIRS/SNPP Dark Target Aerosol: Optical Thickness Swath Data

VIIRS/SNPP Dark Target Aerosol L2 6-Min Swath 6 km V2 provides satellite-derived measurements of Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) and related properties over land and ocean globally. The product is based on the established Dark Target algorithm used for MODIS instruments and has an at-nadir spatial resolution of 6 km. It incorporates data from 64 native 750-meter pixels over each 6-minute acquisition, with Version 2.0 containing improvements over the previous collection.

Use Cases

• Monitoring regional air pollution levels based on Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) measurements.
• Validating and improving climate models using global aerosol property data from the Dark Target algorithm.
• Studying aerosol transport and seasonal variations using the 6-minute temporal resolution swath data.
• Assessing aerosol size parameters over oceans for marine atmospheric research.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage with a high temporal resolution of measurements every 6 minutes.
• Based on the established and peer-reviewed Dark Target algorithm, with Version 2.0 containing documented improvements.
• Offers a specific at-nadir spatial resolution of 6 km x 6 km, aggregating data from finer 750-meter pixels.

Limitations

• Specific column names and the complete data schema are not provided in the available metadata.
• The dataset's size and total row count are unknown, making it difficult to assess its full scale.
• Metadata completeness varies across platforms, with some sources missing license, author, and size information.

Provenance

Source

LAADS (Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive & Distribution System), NASA.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS sensor, processed using the Dark Target algorithm.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:54:28.396410

Geography

Global coverage over land and ocean.