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Description

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is a grating spectrometer (R = 1200) 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. This product is the AIRS mid-tropospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Level 3 Monthly Gridded Retrieval, from the AIRS and AMSU instruments on board of Aqua satellite. It is monthly gridded data at 2.5x2 deg (lon)x(lat) grid cell size. The data is in mole fraction units (data x 10^6 =ppm in volume). This quantity is not a total column quantity because the sensitivity function of the AIRS mid-tropospheric CO2 retrieval system peaks over the altitude range 6-10 km. The quantity is what results when the true atmospheric CO2 profile is weighted, level-by-level, by the AIRS sensitivity function. The file format is HDF-EOS 2.12 corresponding to HDF4. This AIRS mid-tropospheric CO2 Level 3 Monthly Gridded Retrieval Product contains standard retrieval means, standard deviations and input counts as well as the latitude and longitude arrays giving the centers of the grid boxes. Each file covers a calendar month. The mean values are simply the arithmetic means of the individual CO2 retrievals which fall within that grid box over the month. The mid-tropospheric CO2 retrievals have been averaged and binned into 2.5 x 2 deg grid cells, from -180.0 to +180.0 deg longitude and from -60.0 to +90.0 deg latitude. For each grid map of 4-byte floating-point mean values there is a corresponding 4-byte floating-point map of standard deviation and a 2-byte integer grid map of counts. The counts map provides the user with the number of points per bin that were included in the mean.

Product Summary

Platforms
Aqua
Instruments
AIRS ,
AMSU-A
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -60 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
2.5 Decimal Degrees to 2.5 Decimal Degrees x 1.5 Decimal Degrees to 2 Decimal Degrees
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2002-09-01 to 2012-02-29
Data Partner
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDI
Concept ID
C1238517293-GES_DISC
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
114
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Absorption ,
Radiative Forcing ,
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

AIRS Science Team, & Texeira, J. (2008). AIRS/Aqua Level 3 Monthly CO2 in the free troposphere (AIRS+AMSU), Version 005 [Data set]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/AQUA/AIRS/DATA339 Date Accessed: 2026-04-29

Documents

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Long-term trends and chemometric analysis of atmospheric air quality matrices in Nigeria (20032023) using NASA GIOVANNI satellite data Omokpariola, Daniel Omeodisemi, Nduka, John Kanayochukwu, Anagboso, Martin Osita, Omokpariola, Patrick Leonard Absorption, Radiative Forcing, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Tropopause, Surface Pressure, Air Temperature, Upper Air Temperature, Total Precipitable Water, Water Vapor, Cloud Height, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Top Temperature, Cloud Vertical Distribution, Emissivity, Sea Surface Temperature, Skin Temperature, Carbon Monoxide, Geopotential Height, Humidity, Water Vapor Profiles, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Outgoing Longwave Radiation, Methane, Atmospheric Ozone, Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon And Hydrocarbon Compounds, Nitrogen Dioxide, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Atmospheric Ozone, Reflectance, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness
Satellite-based climate change trends and their implication for noncommunicable diseases in Nigeria (20032022) Omokpariola, Daniel Omeodisemi, Nduka, John Kanayochukwu, Anagboso, Martin Osita, Omokpariola, Patrick Leonard Carbon Monoxide, Geopotential Height, Tropopause, Methane, Atmospheric Ozone, Surface Pressure, Outgoing Longwave Radiation, Air Temperature, Upper Air Temperature, Humidity, Total Precipitable Water, Water Vapor, Water Vapor Profiles, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Height, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Top Temperature, Cloud Vertical Distribution, Emissivity, Skin Temperature, Sea Surface Temperature, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Absorption, Radiative Forcing
Temporal evolution of mid-tropospheric CO2 over the Indian Ocean Peter, R., Kuttippurath, J., Chakraborty, Kunal, Sunanda, N. Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Absorption, Radiative Forcing
Carbon dioxide flux in the Java Sea estimated from satellite measurements Wirasatriya, Anindya, Sugianto, Denny Nugroho, Maslukah, Lilik, Ahkam, Muhammad Faqih, Wulandari, Sri Yulina, Helmi, Muhammad Absorption, Radiative Forcing, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Salinity
Long-term prediction of climate change impact on the productivity of grain crops in Ukraine using satellite data Tarariko, O., Ilienko, T., Kuchma, T., Velychko, V. Absorption, Radiative Forcing, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Heat Flux, Air Temperature, Skin Temperature, Specific Humidity, Water Vapor, Precipitation Rate, Snow/Ice, Evaporation, Latent Heat Flux, Latent Heat Flux, Sensible Heat Flux, Diffusion, Surface Winds, Wind Speed, U/V Wind Components, Wind Stress, Wind Stress, Surface Roughness, Planetary Boundary Layer Height, Ice Fraction
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Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
CO2/Data_Fields/Latitude CO2/Data_Fields/Latitude N/A float32 -9999 N/A N/A N/A
CO2/Data_Fields/Longitude CO2/Data_Fields/Longitude N/A float32 -9999 N/A N/A N/A
CO2/Data_Fields/mole_fraction_of_carbon_dioxide_in_free_troposphere CO2/Data_Fields/mole_fraction_of_carbon_dioxide_in_free_troposphere N/A float32 -9999 N/A N/A N/A
CO2/Data_Fields/mole_fraction_of_carbon_dioxide_in_free_troposphere_count CO2/Data_Fields/mole_fraction_of_carbon_dioxide_in_free_troposphere_count N/A int32 0 N/A N/A N/A
CO2/Data_Fields/mole_fraction_of_carbon_dioxide_in_free_troposphere_sdev CO2/Data_Fields/mole_fraction_of_carbon_dioxide_in_free_troposphere_sdev N/A float32 -9999 N/A N/A N/A
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