Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology Version 2.2

Published by NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: July 14, 2026 at 10:38 PM | Dataset Last Updated: June 22, 2026
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.

Resources

10 resources available

Find Related Datasets

Search by Tags

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
bureauCode 
[
  "026:00"
]
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "NASA Space Physics Data Facility",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:NASA-SPDF-Support@nasa.onmicrosoft.com"
}
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.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "BIN",
    "mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
    "downloadURL": "ftps://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/barrel/l2/3e/mspc/"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "BIN",
    "mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
    "downloadURL": "http://relativisticballoons.blogspot.com"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "downloadURL": "https://alexahalford.weebly.com/barrel-2013---2016.html"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "downloadURL": "https://barrel.rmillan.host.dartmouth.edu/documents/data.use.policy.pdf"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "downloadURL": "https://barrel.rmillan.host.dartmouth.edu/index.html"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "BIN",
    "mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
    "downloadURL": "https://cdaweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eval2.cgi?dataset=BAR_3E_L2_MSPC&index=sp_phys"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "TXT",
    "mediaType": "text/plain",
    "downloadURL": "https://cdaweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/barrel/Campaigns_and_launches.txt"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "HTML",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-013-9971-z"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "BIN",
    "mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
    "downloadURL": "https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/barrel/l2/3e/mspc/"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "format": "BIN",
    "mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.nasa.gov/mission-pages/rbsp/barrel/"
  }
]
identifier 10.5067/GLOSSAC-L3-V2.2
keyword 
[
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-aerosol-backscatter",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-aerosol-extinction",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-aerosol-optical-depth-thickness",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-aerosol-particle-properties",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-dust-ash-smoke",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-particulate-matter",
  "earth-science-aerosols-atmosphere-sulfate-particles"
]
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-06-22
programCode 
[
  "026:000"
]
publisher 
{
  "name": "NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"Boundary": {"Points": [{"Latitude": -80, "Longitude": -180}, {"Latitude": -80, "Longitude": 180}, {"Latitude": 80, "Longitude": 180}, {"Latitude": 80, "Longitude": -180}, {"Latitude": -80, "Longitude": -180}]}}]], Minimum Altitude, Maximum Altitude, 5 km, 40 km
temporal 1979-01-01/2021-12-31
theme 
[
  "Earth Science"
]
title Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology Version 2.2

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov