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Full catalog/SWDB_L305
SWDB_L305·v004·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air (SeaWiFS, daily, 0.5 deg)

SeaWiFS Deep Blue Aerosol Optical Depth and Angstrom Exponent Daily Level 3 Data Gridded at 0.5 Degrees V004 (SWDB_L305) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3
In plain English

What it measures. How much haze, dust, and smoke is in the air (aerosol optical thickness), plus a measure that hints at particle size (Angstrom exponent), as daily global maps on a half-degree grid.

How it's made. Derived from the SeaWiFS instrument on the OrbView-2 satellite using the 'Deep Blue' method, with daily measurements averaged into grid cells.

How & where you'd use it. Used to track air quality, dust storms, and smoke, and to study 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 3
  • 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 3 daily global gridded (0.5 x 0.5 deg) data is derived from SeaWiFS Deep Blue Level 2 data. In most cases, each data field represents the arithmetic mean of all cells whose latitude and longitude places it within the bounds of each grid element. Furthermore, only cells measured on the day of interest are included in this calculation. The local date based on the longitude of the cell is calculated from the time of measurement. If the local date equals the day of interest, the cell is included in the L3 data processing. The primary data parameters are aerosol optical thickness, and Angstrom exponent.

Get the data

swdb_l305_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SWDB_L305",
    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.