Ammonia in the air, detailed (Aqua)
What it measures. Reconstructs how ammonia gas is distributed at different heights through the atmosphere, worldwide, along with uncertainty and diagnostic details.
How it's made. Retrieved from the AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite using an optimal-estimation method that rebuilds the gas profile from the raw signal.
How & where you'd use it. Supports studies of air pollution and atmospheric chemistry by mapping ammonia — a gas tied to agriculture and fires — across the globe.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2021-02-01 → ongoing
- Measured byAqua (AIRS)
- Processing levelLevel 2
- Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
- 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
The TROPESS AIRS-Aqua L2 Ammonia for Forward Stream, Standard Product contains the vertical distribution of the retrieved atmospheric state of ammonia (NH3), formal uncertainties, and diagnostic information measured by the AIRS instrument on the EOS Aqua satellite. The forward stream standard product is global for the time period from 2021-02-01 to present. The NASA TRopospheric Ozone and Precursors from Earth System Sounding (TROPESS) project, uses an optimal estimation algorithm, known as the MUlti-SpEctra, MUlti-SpEcies, Multi-SEnsors (MUSES). The data files are written in the netCDF version 4 file format, and each file contains one day of data. The data have a spatial resolution of 13.5 km (AIRS nadir FOV), and are reported at 15 vertical levels from the surface to 0.1 hPa. The principal investigator for the TROPESS project is Kevin W. Bowman.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="TRPSDL2NH3AIRSFS",
version="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. Official links
- Access the data via HTTPS. GET DATA
- Access the data via the OPeNDAP protocol. USE SERVICE API
- README Document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- User's Guide VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- ATBD VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- TROPESS Mission Guide VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Use the Earthdata Search to find and retrieve data sets across multiple data centers. GET DATA