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NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and High-resolution Infra-Red Sounder (HIRS) Reflectance, Brightness Temperature, and Cloud Products from Pathfinder Atmospheres - Extended (PATMOS-x), Version 6.0

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 06:42 AM | Dataset Last Updated: August 04, 2021 at 12:00 AM
The Pathfinder Atmospheres - Extended (PATMOS-x) Version 6.0 suite of cloud products and calibrated radiometric data is a global Climate Data Record (CDR) derived from instruments onboard the NOAA POES and EUMETSAT MetOp satellite series. This Version 6.0 CDR integrates spectral information from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) as well as the High-resolution Infra-Red Sounder (HIRS), where the previous Version 5.3 CDR is derived from AVHRR only. The record spans from 1981 to present, and is generated from between two and ten satellite overpasses daily. The primary cloud products were derived from the Infrared (IR) Algorithm Working Group (AWG) cloud height algorithm (ACHA) and the daytime cloud optical and microphysical properties (DCOMP) algorithm. The calibrated radiometric data covering the visible spectrum includes 0.63, 0.86, and 1.6 micron reflectance from AVHRR. In the infrared this includes 3.75, 11, and 12 micron brightness temperatures from AVHRR, and 6.7 micron and 4 of the CO2 channel brightness temperatures from HIRS. The AVHRR sensor resolution is approximately 1.09 km near nadir, however, it has been aggregated to approximately 4 km within the Global Area Coverage (GAC) files used for processing. The native HIRS resolution is coarser, and it has been interpolated to the AVHRR pixel size and location using a data fusion algorithm. The data points have been fitted to a 0.1 x 0.1 degree equal-angle grid. The final files cover the CDR period of record up to the last achievable final processing date. The preliminary files are updated daily. The latency of the preliminary files is within seven days from real-time. Every one to two years, the final files are completed and replace the preliminary for the same time period. The product is in netCDF file format following the Climate and Forecast (CF) Conventions and the Attribute Convention for Dataset Discovery (ACDD). The CDR is accompanied by algorithm documentation, data flow diagram, and source code.

Resources

14 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • NOAA Climate Data Records: AVHRR+HIRS Reflectance - PATMOS-x CDR

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  • NOAA Climate Data Records: AVHRR+HIRS Cloud Properties - PATMOS-x CDR

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  • NCEI Direct Download (Dataset Files)

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  • NCEI Direct Download (Dataset Documentation)

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  • Registry of Open Data on AWS

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  • AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

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  • Azure Landing Page (Region: us-east)

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  • Journal Article published June 2014 by the American Meteorological Society

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  • Google Scholar search results

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  • NCEI landing page for the Version 5.3 CDR

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  • NCEI landing page for the Version 5.3 CDR

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  • CIMSS PATMOS-x page

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  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

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Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Visible Wavelengths > Visible Radiance Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Brightness Temperature Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Top Height Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Fraction Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Microphysics > Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Radiative Transfer > Cloud Emissivity Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Top Pressure Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Top Temperature

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
accrualPeriodicity R/P1D
contactPoint 
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  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description The Pathfinder Atmospheres - Extended (PATMOS-x) Version 6.0 suite of cloud products and calibrated radiometric data is a global Climate Data Record (CDR) derived from instruments onboard the NOAA POES and EUMETSAT MetOp satellite series. This Version 6.0 CDR integrates spectral information from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) as well as the High-resolution Infra-Red Sounder (HIRS), where the previous Version 5.3 CDR is derived from AVHRR only. The record spans from 1981 to present, and is generated from between two and ten satellite overpasses daily. The primary cloud products were derived from the Infrared (IR) Algorithm Working Group (AWG) cloud height algorithm (ACHA) and the daytime cloud optical and microphysical properties (DCOMP) algorithm. The calibrated radiometric data covering the visible spectrum includes 0.63, 0.86, and 1.6 micron reflectance from AVHRR. In the infrared this includes 3.75, 11, and 12 micron brightness temperatures from AVHRR, and 6.7 micron and 4 of the CO2 channel brightness temperatures from HIRS. The AVHRR sensor resolution is approximately 1.09 km near nadir, however, it has been aggregated to approximately 4 km within the Global Area Coverage (GAC) files used for processing. The native HIRS resolution is coarser, and it has been interpolated to the AVHRR pixel size and location using a data fusion algorithm. The data points have been fitted to a 0.1 x 0.1 degree equal-angle grid. The final files cover the CDR period of record up to the last achievable final processing date. The preliminary files are updated daily. The latency of the preliminary files is within seven days from real-time. Every one to two years, the final files are completed and replace the preliminary for the same time period. The product is in netCDF file format following the Climate and Forecast (CF) Conventions and the Attribute Convention for Dataset Discovery (ACDD). The CDR is accompanied by algorithm documentation, data flow diagram, and source code.
distribution 
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00926.xml
issued 2021-08-04T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Visible Wavelengths > Visible Radiance",
  "Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Infrared Wavelengths > Brightness Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Top Height",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Fraction",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Microphysics > Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Radiative Transfer > Cloud Emissivity",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Top Pressure",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Top Temperature",
  "Satellite",
  "Geographic Region > Global",
  "NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) Program",
  "NOAA OneStop Project",
  "AVHRR > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer",
  "AVHRR-2 > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-2",
  "AVHRR-3 > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-3",
  "HIRS > High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder",
  "TIROS-N > Television Infrared Observation Satellite-N",
  "NOAA-6 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 6",
  "NOAA-7 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 7",
  "NOAA-8 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 8",
  "NOAA-9 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 9",
  "NOAA-10 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 10",
  "NOAA-11 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 11",
  "NOAA-12 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 12",
  "NOAA-14 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 14",
  "NOAA-15 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 15",
  "NOAA-16 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 16",
  "NOAA-17 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 17",
  "NOAA-18 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 18",
  "NOAA-19 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - 19",
  "MetOp-A > Meteorological Operational Satellite - A",
  "MetOp-B > Meteorological Operational Satellite - B",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "UWI-MAD/SSEC > Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison"
]
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2021-08-04T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00246.1",
  "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=10.7289%2FV5X9287S+OR+10.1175%2FBAMS-D-12-00246.1",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/V56W982J",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/V5348HCK",
  "https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/patmosx/"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 1981-08-25T00:00:00+00:00/1981-08-25T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and High-resolution Infra-Red Sounder (HIRS) Reflectance, Brightness Temperature, and Cloud Products from Pathfinder Atmospheres - Extended (PATMOS-x), Version 6.0

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