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AIRS/Aqua L1B Near Real Time (NRT) AMSU (A1/A2) geolocated and calibrated brightness temperatures V005 (AIRABRAD_NRT) at GES DISC

Published by NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/GCDC/GESDISC | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: May 06, 2026 at 07:46 PM | Dataset Last Updated: March 31, 2025
The AMSU-A Level 1B Near Real Time (NRT) product (AIRABRAD_NRT_005) differs from the routine product (AIRABRAD_005) in 2 ways to meet the three hour latency requirements of the Land Atmosphere NRT Capability Earth Observing System (LANCE): (1) The NRT granules are produced without previous or subsequent granules if those granules are not available within 5 minutes, (2) the predictive ephemeris/attitude data are used rather than the definitive ephemeris/attitude. The consequences of these differences are described in the AIRS Near Real Time (NRT) data products document. 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. The AMSU-A instrument is co-aligned with AIRS so that successive blocks of 3 x 3 AIRS footprints are contained within one AMSU-A footprint. AMSU-A is primarily a temperature sounder that provides atmospheric information in the presence of clouds, which can be used to correct the AIRS infrared measurements for the effects of clouds. This is possible because non-precipitating clouds are for the most part transparent to microwave radiation, in contrast to visible and infrared radiation which are strongly scattered and absorbed by clouds. AMSU-A1 has 13 channels from 50 - 90 GHz and AMSU-A2 has 2 channels from 23 - 32 GHz. The AIRABRAD_NRT_005 products are stored in files (often referred to as "granules") that contain 6 minutes of data, 30 footprints across track by 45 lines along track.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
bureauCode 
[
  "026:00"
]
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "ED ESFANDIARI",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:asghar.e.esfandiari@nasa.gov"
}
description The AMSU-A Level 1B Near Real Time (NRT) product (AIRABRAD_NRT_005) differs from the routine product (AIRABRAD_005) in 2 ways to meet the three hour latency requirements of the Land Atmosphere NRT Capability Earth Observing System (LANCE): (1) The NRT granules are produced without previous or subsequent granules if those granules are not available within 5 minutes, (2) the predictive ephemeris/attitude data are used rather than the definitive ephemeris/attitude. The consequences of these differences are described in the AIRS Near Real Time (NRT) data products document. 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. The AMSU-A instrument is co-aligned with AIRS so that successive blocks of 3 x 3 AIRS footprints are contained within one AMSU-A footprint. AMSU-A is primarily a temperature sounder that provides atmospheric information in the presence of clouds, which can be used to correct the AIRS infrared measurements for the effects of clouds. This is possible because non-precipitating clouds are for the most part transparent to microwave radiation, in contrast to visible and infrared radiation which are strongly scattered and absorbed by clouds. AMSU-A1 has 13 channels from 50 - 90 GHz and AMSU-A2 has 2 channels from 23 - 32 GHz. The AIRABRAD_NRT_005 products are stored in files (often referred to as "granules") that contain 6 minutes of data, 30 footprints across track by 45 lines along track.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "View information related to this dataset",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "AIRS Documentation Page",
    "downloadURL": "https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/documents?title=AIRS+Documentation"
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "description": "AIRS home page at NASA/JPL. General information on the AIRS instrument suite, algorithms, and other AIRS-related activities can be found.",
    "downloadURL": "https://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Download this dataset through a directory map",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Access the data via HTTPS. User registration is required. Register for a username and password at https://urs.eosdis.nasa.gov/users/new",
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  {
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    "title": "Use OPeNDAP to access the dataset's data",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Access the data via the OPeNDAP protocol.",
    "downloadURL": "https://discnrt1.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/opendap/Aqua_AIRS_NRT/AIRABRAD_NRT.005/contents.html"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "This dataset's landing page",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Access the dataset landing page from the GES DISC website.",
    "downloadURL": "https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datacollection/AIRABRAD_NRT_005.html"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "View documentation related to this dataset",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "Memo on NRT vs Standard Product",
    "downloadURL": "https://docserver.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/repository/Mission/AIRS/3.3_ScienceDataProductDocumentation/3.3.5_ProductQuality/nrt_memo_v6.pdf"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "View this dataset's read me document",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "README Document",
    "downloadURL": "https://docserver.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/repository/Mission/AIRS/3.3_ScienceDataProductDocumentation/3.3.4_ProductGenerationAlgorithms/README.AIRABRAD.pdf"
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "format": "JPEG",
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    "description": "Sample image of AIRABRAD",
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "View documentation related to this dataset",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "Summary of validation status of products",
    "downloadURL": "https://docserver.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/repository/Mission/AIRS/3.7_ScienceDataProductValidation/V5_CalVal_Status_Summary.pdf"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Download this dataset through Earthdata Search",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
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    "downloadURL": "https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q=AIRABRAD_NRT+005"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "View this dataset's algorithm theoretical basis document",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "downloadURL": "https://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atbd/atbd-airs-L1B_microwave.pdf"
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identifier C1233769000-GES_DISC
issued 2024-11-17
keyword 
[
  "earth-science",
  "microwave",
  "spectral-engineering"
]
landingPage https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov:443/search/concepts/C1233769000-GES_DISC.html
language 
[
  "en-US"
]
modified 2025-03-31
programCode 
[
  "026:001"
]
publisher 
{
  "name": "NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/GCDC/GESDISC",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
spatial -180.0 -90.0 180.0 90.0
temporal 2015-12-15T00:00:00Z/2024-11-25T00:00:00Z
theme 
[
  "Aqua",
  "LANCE",
  "geospatial"
]
title AIRS/Aqua L1B Near Real Time (NRT) AMSU (A1/A2) geolocated and calibrated brightness temperatures V005 (AIRABRAD_NRT) at GES DISC

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