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Full catalog/SWDB_L2
SWDB_L2·v004·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air (SeaWiFS)

SeaWiFS Deep Blue Aerosol Optical Depth and Angstrom Exponent Level 2 Data V004 (SWDB_L2) at GES DISC V004
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. Measures how much haze, dust, and smoke is hanging in the air (aerosol optical thickness) and a clue to particle size (the Angstrom exponent), one satellite pass at a time at about 13.5 km resolution.

How it's made. Produced from the SeaWiFS instrument on the OrbView-2 satellite using the Deep Blue method, which is good at spotting aerosols even over bright deserts.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for tracking air quality, dust storms, and smoke, and for studying how airborne particles affect climate and visibility.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS › AODATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS › ANGSTROM EXPONENTATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1997-09-04 → 2010-12-11
  • Measured byOrbView-2 (SeaWiFS)
  • 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 SeaWiFS Deep Blue (SWDB) Level 2 Product contains data corresponding to a single SeaWiFS swath using Deep Blue algorithm. There are about 15 Level 2 data files produced per day. Each contains retrieved aerosol properties averaged to a resolution of 3x3 SeaWiFS pixels (13.5x13.5 km at the center of the swath given 4.5km SeaWiFS pixels). The primary data parameters are aerosol optical thickness, and Angstrom exponent.

Get the data

swdb_l2_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SWDB_L2",
    version="004",
    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.