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Full catalog/PACE_OCI_L3M_AER_UAA_NRT
PACE_OCI_L3M_AER_UAA_NRT·v3.1·dataset

Haze, dust, and smoke in the air worldwide (PACE, near real-time)

PACE OCI Level-3 Global Mapped Aerosol Optical Properties, Unified Aerosol Algorithm (UAA) Algorithm - Near Real-time (NRT) Data, version 3.1
atmosphere NASA OB_CLOUD Level 3 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Worldwide maps of tiny airborne particles such as haze, dust, and smoke, including how much is in the air, the mix of particle sizes, and how much light they absorb. This is the quick-turnaround near-real-time version.

How it's made. Retrieved from the OCI instrument on NASA's PACE satellite using a unified aerosol algorithm, produced rapidly with best-available background data and mapped globally.

How & where you'd use it. Supports air-quality and climate analysis and helps interpret ocean-color data; because it is rushed out quickly, users should check the quality flags before relying on it.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS › UV AEROSOL INDEX

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-03-05 → ongoing
  • Measured byPACE (OCI)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

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

The Ocean Biology DAAC produces near real-time (NRT) products using the best-available combination of ancillary data from meteorological and ozone data. As such, the inputs and the calibration used are less than optimal. Near real-time products provide a snapshot of the data during a short time period within a single orbit. The AER_UAA suite provides aerosol optical properties (AOP), retrieved using the Unified Aerosol Algorithm (UAA). Core variables include measures that describe aerosol loading, size partitioning, and absorption. A companion product in the same family provides the UV Absorbing Aerosol Index (UVAI_UAA). Typical uses include air-quality and climate analyses, aerosol context for ocean-color atmospheric correction, trend studies, and model evaluation; users should refer to per-file metadata/flags for quality screening and wavelength availability. Core geophysical variables in this suite include: - Aerosol_Optical_Depth_λ - Aerosol optical thickness at λ nm - NUV_AerosolIndex — Near-UV aerosol index (unitless) - NUV_AerosolOpticalDepthOverCloud — Near-UV aerosol optical depth over cloud (unitless) - NUV_CloudOpticalDepth — Near-UV cloud optical depth (unitless)

Get the data

pace_oci_l3m_aer_uaa_nrt_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PACE_OCI_L3M_AER_UAA_NRT",
    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.