The Joint Single Footprint Retrieval Algorithm (JoSFRA) Level-2 geophysical parameters include estimates of atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles, cloud properties, and surface temperature. These are retrieved from infrared spectra observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on the Aqua satellite. AIRS is a grating spectrometer aboard Aqua, the second Earth Observing System (EOS) polar-orbiting platform. AIRS is co-boresited with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) also on Aqua. Horizontal resolutions are 50 km for AMSU and 13.5 km for AIRS. The JoSFRA algorithm uses an optimal-estimation scheme and retrieves geophysical quantities from AIRS thermal infrared spectra at their native horizontal resolution. Cloud observations from MODIS are used in the forward model without recourse to a cloud-cleared state. JOSFRA retrievals provide improved spatial resolution (13.5 km vs 50 km for cloud-cleared retrievals) and information content quantification, making them well-suited for process studies. JoSFRA retrievals are particularly useful in cases where high resolution (finer than 45 km) is needed or is beneficial, such as regions of strong horizontal gradients in water vapor. Use of JoSFRA retrievals is recommended under medium to low cloud cover.

AIRS observations provide near-global coverage twice daily (around 1:30 am and pm local time) since August 30, 2002. An AIRS granule includes 6 minutes of data, 90 AIRS (30 AMSU) footprints across the orbit track by 135 AIRS (45 AMSU) footprints along track. Each day includes 240 granules, with an orbit repeat cycle of approximately 16 days.

For the initial release of Version 2 JoSFRA, a limited test data set is provided. Future releases will expand the dataset. The initial dataset includes full global coverage data for two 5-day periods: January 13-17, 2011 and July 13-17, 2011, the Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds (MAGIC) (Lewis and Teixeira, EOS, 2015) test campaign in the Pacific Ocean with all 6-minute granules that overlap the box bounded by 20-35 degrees North latitude and 120-160 West longitude, June 1, 2012 – September 30, 2013, select granules from the years 2002-2007 where correlative data were available. The locations include Dept. of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) sites at the North Slope of Alaska (NSA), Southern Great Plains (SGP), and Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), as well as scientific field campaigns.