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Full catalog/PACE_OCI_L2_CLOUD
PACE_OCI_L2_CLOUD·v3.1·dataset

How thick and icy the clouds are (PACE)

PACE OCI Level-2 Regional Cloud Optical Properties Data, version 3.1
land NASA OB_CLOUD Level 2 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Detailed properties of clouds: how much of each pixel is cloudy, whether the cloud is made of ice or water, how big its droplets are, how thick it is, how much water it holds, and how high, cold, and low-pressure its top is.

How it's made. Retrieved from the Ocean Color Instrument on NASA's PACE satellite, using near-infrared light to work out each cloud's makeup for a given region.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers study how clouds interact with sunlight and climate, screen out clouds when analyzing ocean color, and combine cloud information with ocean measurements.

What's measured

Spectral/Engineering › Visible WavelengthsATMOSPHERE › CLOUDSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIESATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-03-05 → ongoing
  • Measured byPACE (OCI)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The CLOUD data suite provides per-pixel microphysics and macrophysics to support cloud/climate applications. Typical uses: screening clouds for atmospheric correction, evaluating cloud–radiation interactions, and joint analyses with ocean-color variables (e.g., chlorophyll, Rrs). Core geophysical variables in this suite include: - cloud_fraction — Cloud fraction (unitless; 0–1) - ice_cloud — Ice cloud fraction (unitless; 0–1) - water_cloud — Water cloud fraction (unitless; 0–1) - cer_16 / cer_21 / cer_22 — Cloud particle effective radius (µm) retrieved from two-channel methods using near-IR bands (1.6, 2.1, or 2.2 µm) paired with a non-absorbing band - cot_16 / cot_21 / cot_22 — Cloud optical thickness (unitless) retrieved from two-channel methods using near-IR bands - cwp_16 / cwp_21 / cwp_22 — Cloud water path (g m⁻²) retrieved from two-channel methods using near-IR bands - cth — Cloud top height (m) - ctp — Cloud top pressure (hPa) - ctt — Cloud top temperature (K) - l2_flags — Level-2 Processing Flags (bitmask; see product attributes for definitions)

Get the data

pace_oci_l2_cloud_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PACE_OCI_L2_CLOUD",
    version="3.1",
    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 OB_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.