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Description

AER_RTAPOCEAN provides aerosol optical/microphysical properties retrieved over the oceans, along with coupled surface parameters used in the retrieval. The suite includes spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD), single-scattering albedo (SSA), complex refractive index (real/imaginary), size distribution metrics (e.g., fine/coarse effective radii and fine-mode fraction), and aerosol shape/fraction spherical; it also reports ocean surface roughness (glint/wind parameterization) and “ocean body” properties that define the water-leaving signal for consistency with the coupled atmosphere–ocean inversion. Use AER_RTAPOCEAN for aerosol-climate and air-quality studies, as aerosol context for ocean-color atmospheric correction, and for model evaluation and data assimilation; pair it with OCI/HARP2 products for cross-sensor analyses.

Core geophysical variables in this suite include:
• alh – Aerosol layer height (km)
• aot – Aerosol optical thickness (dimensionless)
• aot550 – Aerosol optical thickness at 550 nm (dimensionless)
• angstrom_440_670 – Ångström exponent, 440–670 nm (dimensionless)
• angstrom_440_870 – Ångström exponent, 440–870 nm (dimensionless)
• angstrom_490_670 – Ångström exponent, 490–670 nm (dimensionless)
• chla – Chlorophyll-a concentration (mg m⁻³)
• fmf – Aerosol fine mode fraction (dimensionless)
• fvf – Aerosol fine mode volume fraction (dimensionless)
• lidar_bsca_total – Aerosol lidar backscatter coefficient (km⁻¹ sr⁻¹)
• lidar_depol_ratio – Aerosol lidar depolarization ratio (dimensionless)
• lidar_ratio – Aerosol lidar extinction-to-backscatter ratio (sr)
• mi – Aerosol refractive index, imaginary part (dimensionless)
• mr – Aerosol refractive index, real part (dimensionless)
• reff_coarse – Aerosol effective radius, coarse mode (µm)
• reff_fine – Aerosol effective radius, fine mode (µm)
• sph – Aerosol spherical fraction (dimensionless)
• ssa – Aerosol single scattering albedo (dimensionless)
• vd – Aerosol volume density (µm³ µm⁻²)
• veff_coarse – Aerosol effective variance, coarse mode (dimensionless)
• veff_fine – Aerosol effective variance, fine mode (dimensionless)
• waterfrac_inland – Water fraction over inland pixels (dimensionless, 0–1)
• wind_speed – Wind speed (m s⁻¹)

Version Description

Reprocessing of Ocean Color (OC) Datasets

Product Summary

Platforms
PACE
Instruments
SPEXone
Spatial Extent

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

Location
GLOBAL OCEAN
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2024-02-25 to Present
Data Partner
Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) ,
Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC), Global Change Data Center, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/GCDC/OB.DAAC)
Concept ID
C3555840000-OB_CLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
22103
Processing Level
2
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Ocean Color

Documents

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
diagnostic_data/aot550_first_guess First guess of aerosol optical thickness at 550 nm N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/aot550_mode1_first_guess First guess of aerosol optical thickness (mode 1) N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/aot550_mode2_first_guess First guess of aerosol optical thickness (mode 2) N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/aot550_mode3_first_guess First guess of aerosol optical thickness (mode 3) N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/bpdf_scale_first_guess First guess of bi-directional surface polarization distribution function scaling parameter N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/chi2 Cost function value N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/chi2_first_guess Cost function value of the first guess N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/chla_first_guess First guess of Chlorophyll-a concentration mg m^-3 float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/cloud_fraction The cloud fraction N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/f_isotropic_first_guess First guess of surface isotropic scaling parameter for each band N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/iteration Number of iterations N/A int32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/li_sparse_first_guess First guess of bi-directional surface reflectance distribution function li-sparse kernel coefficient N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/no2 NO2 column density molecules cm^-2 float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/nview Number of viewing angles N/A int32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/ozone Ozone column density Dobson float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/quality_flag Quality of retrieved pixels (0: good) N/A int32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/refr_coefs_mode1 Coefficients of components for refractive index (mode 1) N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/refr_coefs_mode2 Coefficients of components for refractive index (mode 2) N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/refr_coefs_mode3 Coefficients of components for refractive index (mode 3) N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/ross_thick_first_guess First guess of bi-directional surface reflectance distribution function ross-thick kernel coefficient N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/snow_coef_first_guess First guess of bi-directional surface reflectance distribution function snow kernel coefficient N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/surface_pressure Surface pressure mb float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/timing Retrieval time per pixel seconds float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/water_albedo_correction_first_guess First guess of surface water albedo correction term for each band N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
diagnostic_data/wind_speed_first_guess First guess of ocean wind speed m/s float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/fracday The fraction in a day N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/height Height meter float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/height_std Height standard deviation meter float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/latitude Latitude degrees_north float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/longitude Longitude degrees_east float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/pixel_id Pixel id N/A int32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/relative_azimuth_angle Relative azimuth angle degree float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/scattering_angle Scattering angle degree float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/sensor_zenith_angle Viewing zenith angle degree float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/solar_zenith_angle Solar zenith angle degree float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geolocation_data/utc_date UTC date N/A int32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh Aerosol layer height km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_coarse Aerosol layer height (coarse mode) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_fine Aerosol layer height (fine mode) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_mode1 Aerosol layer height (mode 1) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_mode1_uncertainty Uncertainty of aerosol layer height (mode 1) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_mode2 Aerosol layer height (mode 2) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_mode2_uncertainty Uncertainty of aerosol layer height (mode 2) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_mode3 Aerosol layer height (mode 3) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/alh_mode3_uncertainty Uncertainty of aerosol layer height (mode 3) km float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/angstrom_440_670 Aerosol Angstrom exponent, 440 to 670 nm N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/angstrom_440_670_uncertainty Uncertainty of aerosol Angstrom exponent, 440 to 670 nm N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/angstrom_440_870 Aerosol Angstrom exponent, 440 to 870 nm N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/angstrom_440_870_uncertainty Uncertainty of aerosol Angstrom exponent, 440 to 870 nm N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
geophysical_data/angstrom_490_670 Aerosol Angstrom exponent, 490 to 670 nm N/A float32 -32767 N/A N/A
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