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Full catalog/SWDB_L3M05
SWDB_L3M05·v004·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air, monthly (SeaWiFS)

SeaWiFS Deep Blue Aerosol Optical Depth and Angstrom Exponent Monthly Level 3 Data Gridded at 0.5 Degrees V004 (SWDB_L3M05) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3
In plain English

What it measures. Monthly global maps of how much haze, dust, and smoke is in the air (aerosol optical thickness) and a related measure that hints at particle size.

How it's made. Derived from the SeaWiFS instrument on the OrbView-2 satellite using the 'Deep Blue' method, averaged from daily data into monthly half-degree grids.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for tracking air-quality and dust events and studying how airborne particles affect climate, especially over bright land surfaces like deserts.

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 span1997-09-01 → 2010-12-31
  • 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 Level 3 monthly product contains monthly global gridded (0.5 x 0.5 deg) Version 4 data derived from SeaWiFS Deep Blue Level 3 daily gridded data at the same spatial resolution. The primary data parameters are aerosol optical thickness, and Angstrom exponent.

Get the data

swdb_l3m05_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SWDB_L3M05",
    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.