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Description

The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument measures surface mineralogy, targeting the Earth’s arid dust source regions. EMIT is installed on the International Space Station (ISS) and uses imaging spectroscopy to take measurements of the sunlit regions of interest between 52° N latitude and 52° S latitude. An interactive map showing the regions being investigated, current and forecasted data coverage, and additional data resources can be found on the VSWIR Imaging Spectroscopy Interface for Open Science (VISIONS) EMIT Open Data Portal.

The EMIT Level 4 Earth System Model (EMITL4ESM) Version 1 data product provides radiative forcing outputs, along with other ancillary outputs generated from different Earth System Models (ESMs). ESMs are complex models that integrate relevant physical, chemical, biological, and human components to simulate multiple aspects of large-scale systems on Earth. Multiple models, input mineral maps, meteorology inputs, and emissions/concentration scenarios are examined for the model runs contained within this data product. Models currently utilized include the Community Earth System Model 2 (CESM2) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) model. Some ESM runs utilize reference surface mineral maps from the literature dating back to 2007; others rely on the EMIT L3 Aggregated Mineral Spectral Abundance and Uncertainty 0.5 Deg (EMITL3ASA) data as inputs.

Each EMITL4ESM granule represents a single ESM run with a Network Common Data Format 4 (netCDF-4) file for each variable. A total of 12 Science Dataset (SDS) layers or variables are provided for each model run. For some SDS layers or variables, multiple layers based on inclusion of model minerology inputs are provided in their netCDF files. The layers/variables table below details which variables contain the extra layers. Metadata flags for Earth System Model, Resolution, Surface Mineral Map, External Meteorology, Time Period, and Emissions/Concentration Scenario indicate the key parameters for each granule. A table outlining each variable in detail can be found in the EMIT Science Data System Level 4 repository.

Known Issues

  • Data acquisition gap: From September 13, 2022, through January 6, 2023, a power issue outside of EMIT caused a pause in operations. Due to this shutdown, no data were acquired during that timeframe.

Version Description

Version 1

Product Summary

Platforms
ISS
Instruments
EMIT Imaging Spectrometer
Spatial Extent
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Spatial Resolution
1.25 Decimal Degrees x 1 Decimal Degrees
2.5 Decimal Degrees x 2 Decimal Degrees
Geographic Region
GLOBAL LAND
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2007-01-01
Temporal Resolution
Varies
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/EMIT)
Concept ID
C2408755900-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Air Quality,
Primary Production,
Evapotranspiration,
Radiative Forcing

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

Mahowald, N., Li, L., Miller, R., Obiso, V., Perez-Garcia-Pando, C., Goncalves-Ageitos, M., Okin, G., Clark, R., Ginoux, P., Thompson, D., Brodrick, P., & Green, R. (2024). EMIT L4 Earth System Model Products V001 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001 Date Accessed: 2025-11-02

File Naming Convention

EMIT_L4_ESM_001_CESM_1.0-1.25-32_EMIT002-B_NONE_2090-2094_SSP2-4.5_DSWRFSFC.nc

The file name begins with the Sensor (EMIT) followed by the Processing Level (L4), Product Type (ESM), Product Version Number (001), Model Used to Generate Data (CESM), Resolution designated as latitude, longitude, level (1.0-1.25-32), Surface Mineral Map Version (EMIT002-B), External Meteorology Data (NONE), Time Period Represented (2090-2094), Emission/Concentration Scenario (SSP2-4.5), Abbreviated Variable Name (DSWRFSFC), and Data Format (nc).

Documents

Data collected by NASA's Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) on April 23, 2024, indicates the location of a variety of planet communites across a swath of the mid-Atlantic United States.

EMIT Tutorial Series

In this three-part tutorial series, learn how to use Python to process EMIT reflectance data.
Tutorial
June 14, 2023
SHOWING 1 OF 1

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
atmospheric_mineral_composition Atmospheric mineral composition: this is an output of the ESM. Variable will be repeated for each model minerology, using the nomenclature “[basename]_[mineral]”, where basename is name of this variable. The [mineral] portion of the variable names will be one of the following: ill, kao, sme, feo, qua, cal, fel, gyp, Illi, Kaol, Smec, Calc, Quar, Feld, FeOx, Gyps, IlFe, KaFe, SmFe, CaFe, QuFe, FeFe, and GyFe. An explanation of these abbreviations can be found on the dataset landing page: https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001. kg mineral/kg air float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dry_deposition Dry dust deposition to the surface. Variable will be repeated for each model minerology, using the nomenclature “[basename]_[mineral]”, where basename is name of this variable. The [mineral] portion of the variable names will be one of the following: ill, kao, sme, feo, qua, cal, fel, gyp, Illi, Kaol, Smec, Calc, Quar, Feld, FeOx, Gyps, IlFe, KaFe, SmFe, CaFe, QuFe, FeFe, and GyFe. An explanation of these abbreviations can be found on the dataset landing page: https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001. kg/m²/s float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dust_aod_vis Dust aerosol optical depth averaged across the visible wavelength range. N/A float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dust_lw_rf_sfc Dust longwave radiative forcing at the surface. W/m² float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dust_lw_rf_toa Dust longwave radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere. W/m² float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dust_ssa_vis Dust single scattering albedo averaged across the visible wavelength range. N/A float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dust_sw_rf_sfc Dust shortwave radiative forcing at the surface. W/m² float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
dust_sw_rf_toa Dust shortwave radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere. W/m² float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
input_mineral_fraction_emitted Fractional emitted mineral composition; this is an input into the ESM. Variable will be repeated for each model minerology, using the nomenclature “[basename]_[mineral]”, where basename is name of this variable. The [mineral] portion of the variable names will be one of the following: ill, kao, sme, feo, qua, cal, fel, gyp, Illi, Kaol, Smec, Calc, Quar, Feld, FeOx, Gyps, IlFe, KaFe, SmFe, CaFe, QuFe, FeFe, and GyFe. An explanation of these abbreviations can be found on the dataset landing page: https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001. N/A float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
mod_min_soil_emis Mineral soil emissions through time; this is an output of the ESM. Variable will be repeated for each model minerology, using the nomenclature “[basename]_[mineral]”, where basename is name of this variable. The [mineral] portion of the variable names will be one of the following: ill, kao, sme, feo, qua, cal, fel, gyp, Illi, Kaol, Smec, Calc, Quar, Feld, FeOx, Gyps, IlFe, KaFe, SmFe, CaFe, QuFe, FeFe, and GyFe. An explanation of these abbreviations can be found on the dataset landing page: https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001. kg/m²/s float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
surface_concentration_by_volume Surface mineral concentration volume. Variable will be repeated for each model minerology, using the nomenclature “[basename]_[mineral]”, where basename is name of this variable. The [mineral] portion of the variable names will be one of the following: ill, kao, sme, feo, qua, cal, fel, gyp, Illi, Kaol, Smec, Calc, Quar, Feld, FeOx, Gyps, IlFe, KaFe, SmFe, CaFe, QuFe, FeFe, and GyFe. An explanation of these abbreviations can be found on the dataset landing page: https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001. kg/m³ float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
wet_deposition Wet dust deposition to the surface. Variable will be repeated for each model minerology, using the nomenclature “[basename]_[mineral]”, where basename is name of this variable. The [mineral] portion of the variable names will be one of the following: ill, kao, sme, feo, qua, cal, fel, gyp, Illi, Kaol, Smec, Calc, Quar, Feld, FeOx, Gyps, IlFe, KaFe, SmFe, CaFe, QuFe, FeFe, and GyFe. An explanation of these abbreviations can be found on the dataset landing page: https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL4ESM.001. kg/m²/s float32 -9999 -9999 N/A
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