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Full catalog/AIRS_MDS_IND
AIRS_MDS_IND·v1.0·dataset

Index matching AIRS and MODIS observations (Aqua)

Aqua AIRS-MODIS Matchup Indexes V1.0 (AIRS_MDS_IND) at GES_DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. A lookup table that matches up observations from two instruments on the same satellite, linking each AIRS measurement to the corresponding MODIS measurement so they can be studied together.

How it's made. Created by collocating AIRS and MODIS observations from the Aqua satellite and storing the matching indexes, as part of a larger effort to merge readings from several 'A-train' instruments.

How & where you'd use it. A behind-the-scenes tool for scientists combining water-vapor and cloud measurements across instruments; not a measurement product people use on its own.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2003-01-01 → 2016-12-31
  • Measured byAqua (AIRS, MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

This is Aqua AIRS-MODIS collocation indexes, in netCDF-4 format. These data map AIRS profile indexes to those of MODIS. The basic task is to bring together retrievals of water vapor and cloud properties from multiple "A-train" instruments (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, AMSU, MLS, & CloudSat), classify each "scene" (instrument look) using the cloud information, and develop a merged, multi-sensor climatology of atmospheric water vapor as a function of altitude, stratified by the cloud classes. This is a large science analysis project that will require the use of SciFlo technologies to discover and organize all of the datasets, move and cache datasets as required, find space/time "matchups" between pairs of instruments, and process years of satellite data to produce the climate data records. The short name for this collections is AIRS_MDS_IND

Get the data

airs_mds_ind_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="AIRS_MDS_IND",
    version="1.0",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.