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Description

The Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology, or GloSSAC, is a 43-year climatology of stratospheric aerosol properties focused on extinction coefficient measurements by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) series of instruments through mid-2005 and later from mid-2017 and on the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS) and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data thereafter. Data from other space instruments and from ground-based, air and balloon borne instruments to fill in key gaps in the data set. The end result is a global and gap-free data set focused on aerosol extinction coefficient at 525 and 1020 nm and other parameters on an ‘as available’ basis.

Version Description

Version 2.2

Product Summary

Platforms
ERBS ,
CALIPSO ,
UARS ,
ISS
Instruments
SAGE II ,
CALIOP ,
CLAES ,
SAGE III
Location
,
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1979-01-01 to 2021-12-31
Vertical Extent
Minimum Altitude: 5 km
Maximum Altitude: 40 km
Data Partner
Atmospheric Science Data Center, Science Directorate, Langley Research Center, NASA (NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC)
Concept ID
C3880704150-LARC_CLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
1
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Aerosols ,
Particulate Matter ,
Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness ,
Aerosol Particle Properties ,
Aerosol Extinction ,
Aerosol Backscatter ,
Sulfate Particles ,
Dust/Ash/Smoke

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

Thomason, L. (2022). Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology Version 2.1 [Data set]. NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/GLOSSAC-L3-V2.2 Date Accessed: 2026-05-23

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Producing aerosol size distributions consistent with optical particle counter measurements using space-based measurements of aerosol extinction coefficient Ernest, Nicholas, Thomason, Larry W., Deshler, Terry Aerosols, Particulate Matter, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Particle Properties, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Backscatter, Sulfate Particles, Dust/Ash/Smoke
Analysis of a newly homogenised ozonesonde dataset from Lauder, New Zealand Zeng, Guang, Querel, Richard, Shiona, Hisako, Poyraz, Deniz, Van Malderen, Roeland, Geddes, Alex, Smale, Penny, Smale, Dan, Robinson, John, Morgenstern, Olaf Aerosols, Particulate Matter, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Particle Properties, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Backscatter, Sulfate Particles, Dust/Ash/Smoke
Quantifying SAGE II (19842005) and SAGE III/ISS (20172022) observations of smoke in the stratosphere Thomason, Larry W., Knepp, Travis Aerosols, Particulate Matter, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Particle Properties, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Backscatter, Sulfate Particles, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Atmospheric Ozone, Water Vapor, Trace Gases/Trace Species, Nitrogen Dioxide, Water Vapor Profiles
SAGE III/ISS aerosol/cloud categorization and its impact on GloSSAC Kovilakam, Mahesh, Thomason, Larry, Knepp, Travis Aerosols, Particulate Matter, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Aerosol Particle Properties, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Backscatter, Sulfate Particles, Dust/Ash/Smoke
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