GES Distributed Active Archive Center
Data Sets
| Data Set | Description |
|---|---|
| AIRS | The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is a facility instrument aboard the second Earth Observing System (EOS) polar-orbiting platform, EOS Aqua. In combination with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) and the Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB), AIRS constitutes an innovative atmospheric sounding group of visible, infrared, and microwave sensors. AIRS data will be generated continuously. Global coverage will be obtained twice daily (day and night) on a 1:30pm sun synchronous orbit from a 705-km altitude.For processing convenience, the data is divided into 6-minute granules (the smallest unit of data products). |
| AVHRR | The Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Land data sets are global data mapped to an 8 km equal area projection. Parameters produced include reflectances and brightness temperatures derived from the five-channel cross-track scanning AVHRR aboard the NOAA Polar Orbiter 'afternoon' satellites (NOAA-7, -9, -11 and -14), along with a derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), cloud and quality control indicators, and ancillary data. The data are being produced from the NOAA Global Area Coverage (GAC) Level 1B data spanning a period of more than 20-years (1981-2001). There is a permanent data gap in 1994 between the middle of September to the end of December due to satellite failure. September 30, 2001 is the last day of data processed. NASA/HQ is currently reviewing future 8 km NDVI AVHRR processing strategies. |
| CZCS | The CZCS data set is a global ocean color data set. In most oceanic regions, the color of the ocean is primarily determined by the abundance of phytoplankton and their associated photosynthetic pigments. As phytoplankton pigment concentration increases, ocean color gradually shifts from blue to green. CZCS utilizes this characteristic of ocean color for the observation of pigment distribution in the oceans. The CZCS was launched on the Nimbus-7 satellite in October 1978. During the 91 months of its operation (October 1978 - June 1986), CZCS acquired nearly 68,000 images, each covering up to 2 million square kilometers of ocean surface. |
| DAO | The GEOS-1 Multiyear Assimilated dataset produced by the Data As similation Office (DAO) at GSFC by using an atmospheric general circulation mode l (GCM) provides dynamically consistent, global and gridded atmospheric data for use in climate research. With a resolution of 2 x 2.5 lat lon by 20 levels at 6 and 3 hour intervals, the dataset contains various parameters such as upper air heights, winds, temperature, and moisture as well as numerous derived quantities. |
| IDC | This site provides access to the Climatology Interdisciplinary Data Collection (CIDC) CD-ROM. The CIDC contains global climatology data at various temporal and spatial resolutions. The data sets in this collection have been acquired from numerous sources and made available, by the Goddard DAAC, in a integrated form to support researchers who are interested in Interdiscipline science. |
| LIMS | The Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) instrument measured vertical profiles of temperature, geopotential height, and mixing ratios of ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), water vapor (H2O), and nitric acid (HNO3). The LIMS instrument was launched on the Nimbus-7 satellite and was operational for about seven months from 25 October 1978 until May 28, 1979. |
| MODIS-Terra | The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is one of many Earth-observing instruments on board the EOS Terra satellite. It provides images of land, ocean and atmosphere in 36 spectral bands (from 0.4µm to 14.5µm) with spatial resolutions of 250m (bands 1-2), 500m (bands 3-7) and 1000m (bands 8-36). |
| MODIS-Aqua | The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is one of many Earth-observing instruments on board the EOS Aqua satellite. It provides images of land, ocean and atmosphere in 36 spectral bands (from 0.4µm to 14.5µm) with spatial resolutions of 250m (bands 1-2), 500m (bands 3-7) and 1000m (bands 8-36). |
| MSU | Data from the MSU LIMB93 processing is available in two formats, namely, the Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) and a native format originally used by the data producer. In both cases, separate files are provided for the Lower Tropospheric Temperature (LTT), the Upper Tropospheric Temperature (UTT), the Lower Stratospheric Temperature (LST) and the Oceanic Precipitation (OP). Each HDF file contains a single year of daily grids at 2.5 degree resolution. The native format files contain all 16 years of data in single files, except for precipitation which is separated by year as in the case of the HDF version of the data. The data and read programs are available for both data formats via anonymous FTP. |
| OCTS | The Ocean Color and Temperature Sensor (OCTS) operated on the Japanese "Midori" remote-sensing satellite from November 1996 to June 1997. The OCTS data set has been processed into the same format as SeaWiFS data files. OCTS data has similar applications as SeaWiFS data, primarily intended to quantify global ocean bio-optical properties. OCTS data therefore provide information on phytoplankton distribution, sediments, and related quantities for the mission period, which occurred just prior to the beginning of the SeaWiFS mission. |
| SEAWIFS | The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor Project provides quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical applications. |
| SEAWIFS_LAND | The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SEAWIFS) Land data set contains vegetation products including 4.63 km resolution 16-day composited continental data, and 0.25 degrees monthly global gridded data. The continental data are at the same spatial and temporal resolution as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) composited vegetation indexes to facilitate comparison studies between the two instruments. Parameters produced include reflectances from bands 2 (blue), 4 (blue-green), 6 (red), and 8 (near IR), the Vegetation Index (VI), the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). |
| SORCE | The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) mission measures the solar radiation incident at the Earth's atmosphere. Data products are available containing the total solar irradiance, and solar spectral irradiance (1 to 35 nm and 115 to 2000 nm), both at 6 hourly and daily averages. |
| SSI | The Surface Solar Irradiance (SSI) data set provides a global view of solar energy incident at the surface for both the full spectrum (.4 - 2.2 microns) and the photosynthetically active region of the spectrum (.4 - .7 microns). The major atmospheric inputs to the model are obtained from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) DX data. The SSI data are mapped to a 1/2 degree rectangular grid at 3 hourly, daily and monthly time resolutions. |
| TOMS | Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer provides high resolution global information about the total ozone content of the atmosphere. This data set is used in studies involving upper air dynamics and chemistry on both short (interannual) and long (decadal) time scales. |
| TOVS | The TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) instrument package provides information on temperature and humidity profiles, total ozone, clouds and radiation on a global scale. The Pathfinder processing of the data products using fixed algorithms provides a wealth of climatological information. TOVS has been carried aboard NOAA polar orbiting weather satellites since 1978, and continues to the present. |
| UARS | The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite data set consists of daily near global (-80° to +80°) measurements of atmospheric trace gases, temperature, aerosols and wind profiles, as well as measurements of solar UV spectra and charged particles injected into the Earth's atmosphere. |
| TRMM | The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is a joint endeavor between NASA and Japan's National Space Development Agency. It is designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall and the associated release of energy that helps to power the global atmospheric circulation, shaping both global weather and climate. |
