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Full catalog/SNDRAQIML2CPS
SNDRAQIML2CPS·v2.1·dataset

Temperature and moisture through the air column (Aqua)

Sounder SIPS: AQUA AIRS IR + MW Level 2 CLIMCAPS: Retrieved atmospheric state V2.1 (SNDRAQIML2CPS) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. Vertical profiles of the atmosphere: temperature and moisture from near the ground high into the sky, plus ozone, carbon monoxide, methane, surface temperature and cloud-top details.

How it's made. Produced by the CLIMCAPS algorithm, which combines infrared readings from the AIRS instrument and microwave readings from AMSU on NASA's Aqua satellite, starting from a best-guess estimate and refining it.

How & where you'd use it. Supports weather forecasting and studies of how temperature, humidity, and pollutants are distributed through the air column.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AIR QUALITY › TROPOSPHERIC OZONEATMOSPHERE › ALTITUDE › TROPOPAUSEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRYATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDSATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS › METHANEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › OUTGOING LONGWAVE RADIATIONATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › AIR TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › SKIN TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › UPPER AIR TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › UPPER AIR TEMPERATURE › VERTICAL PROFILESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPORATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR › WATER VAPOR INDICATORS › LAYERED PRECIPITABLE WATER

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-08-31 → 2016-09-25
  • Measured byAqua (AIRS, AMSU-A)
  • 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

The CLIMCAPS (Community Long-term Infrared Microwave Coupled Product System) algorithm is used to analyze data from the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) and AMSU (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit). The AIRS instrument is a grating spectrometer (R = 1200) aboard the second Earth Observing System (EOS) polar-orbiting platform, EOS Aqua. The AIRS in combination with the AMSU constitutes an innovative atmospheric sounding group of infrared and microwave sensors. The AIRS Standard Retrieval Product consists of retrieved estimates of cloud and surface properties, plus profiles of retrieved temperature, water vapor, ozone, carbon monoxide and methane. The temperature profile vertical resolution is 100 levels total between 1100 mb and 0.1 mb, while moisture profile is reported at atmospheric layers between 1100 mb and 300 mb. The horizontal resolution is 50 km. The CLIMCAPS algorithm uses an Optimal Estimation methodology and uses an a-priori first guess to start the process. A CLIMCAPS sounding is comprised of a set of parameters that characterizes the full atmospheric state and includes a variety of geophysical parameters derived from the CrIMSS data. These include surface temperature and infrared emissivity; full atmosphere profiles of temperature, water vapor and ozone; infrared effective cloud top characteristics; carbon monoxide, methane, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and nitric acid. An AIRS granule has been set as 6 minutes of data, 30 footprints cross track by 45 lines along track for each of the approximate 2378 channels. There are 240 granules per day, with an orbit repeat cycle of approximately 16 day

Get the data

sndraqiml2cps_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNDRAQIML2CPS",
    version="2.1",
    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 GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.