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Full catalog/PACE_SPEXONE_L3M_AER_RTAP
PACE_SPEXONE_L3M_AER_RTAP·v3.0·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air (PACE SPEXone)

PACE SPEXone Level-3 Global Mapped Aerosol Optical Properties, RemoTAP Algorithm Data, version 3.0
atmosphere NASA OB_CLOUD Level 3 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Detailed properties of airborne particles, how much haze is present, how big the particles are, and how strongly they absorb light, summarized as a global map.

How it's made. Retrieved from the SPEXone polarimeter on NASA's PACE satellite using the RemoTAP algorithm and gridded into a global Level-3 map.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for air-quality and climate studies, for correcting ocean-color measurements for atmospheric haze, and for checking models.

What's measured

Atmosphere › AerosolsAtmosphere › Aerosols › Aerosol Particle Properties

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-02-05 → ongoing
  • Measured byPACE (SPEXone)
  • 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

AER_RTAP provides aerosol properties retrieved using the RemoTAP algorithm. The suite includes variables for characterizing aerosol loading, size, and absorption. Use AER_RTAP for air-quality and climate studies, aerosol context for ocean-color atmospheric correction, and model evaluation. Geophysical variables in this suite include: - angstrom_440_670 — Aerosol Ångström exponent, 440–670 nm (unitless) - aot — Aerosol optical thickness (unitless) - fmf — Aerosol fine mode fraction (unitless) - fvf — Aerosol fine mode volume fraction (unitless) - lidar_bsca_total — Aerosol lidar backscatter coefficient (sr⁻¹ m⁻¹) - lidar_depol_ratio — Aerosol lidar depolarization ratio (unitless) - lidar_p11_pi — Aerosol phase function p11 at backscatter direction (unitless) - mi — Aerosol refractive index, imaginary part (unitless) - mr — Aerosol refractive index, real part (unitless) - reff_coarse — Aerosol effective radius, coarse mode (µm) - reff_fine — Aerosol effective radius, fine mode (µm) - ssa — Aerosol single scattering albedo (unitless)

Get the data

pace_spexone_l3m_aer_rtap_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PACE_SPEXONE_L3M_AER_RTAP",
    version="3.0",
    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 OB_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.