This data set for the ISLSCP Initiative II data collection provides meteorology data with fixed, monthly, monthly-6-hourly, 6-hourly, and 3-hourly temporal resolutions. The data were derived from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) near-surface meteorology data set, 40-year re-analysis, or ERA-40 (Simmons and Gibson, 2000), which covers the years 1957 to 2001. The data were processed onto the ISLSCP II Earth grid with a spatial resolution of 1-degree in both latitude and longitude, and span the common ISLSCP II period from 1986 to 1995.The ECMWF forecast system is called the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) and was developed in co-operation with Meteo-France. For ERA40 it is used with 60 levels from the top of the model at 10 Pa to the lowest level at about 10 m above the surface. There are 46 compressed (.tar.gz) data files with this data set. Each uncompressed file contains space-delimited text (.asc) data files.

CER_CldTypHist_GEO-MODIS-VIIRS_Edition4A is the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)- Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and hourly geostationary cloud properties stratified by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) cloud types for day and night Edition 4A data product. Data collection is ongoing. The CERES-MODIS-VIIRS and hourly geostationary cloud properties (CldTypHist) data product contain monthly and one-hourly gridded regional mean cloud properties as a function of 18 cloud types, where the cloud properties are stratified by pressure, optical depth, and phase. Data is available day and night. The CldTypHist product combines cloud properties from Terra-MODIS (10:30 AM local equator crossing time LECT), NOAA20-VIIRS (1:30 PM LECT), and geostationary satellites (GEO) to provide the most diurnally complete product. The GEO cloud properties have been normalized with MODIS for diurnal consistency. The CERES MODIS-derived cloud properties are not the official NASA MODIS cloud retrievals but are based on the CERES cloud working group retrievals that are also available in other CERES products. Likewise, CERES-VIIRS cloud properties are not the official NASA VIIRS cloud retrievals but are based on the CERES cloud working group retrievals that are also available in other CERES products. The CERES MODIS-derived and VIIRS-derived cloud properties provide coverage from pole to pole. The hourly GEO cloud properties come from five satellites at 8km nominal resolution with coverage limited to equatorward of 60 degrees. The GEO cloud retrievals incorporate additional channels as they become available on improved geostationary satellites that replaced earlier ones in the time period. The geostationary calibration is normalized to Terra-MODIS. Each CldTypHist file covers a single month.CERES is a key component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) program. The CERES instruments provide radiometric measurements of the Earth's atmosphere from three broadband channels. The CERES missions are a follow-on to the successful Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission. The first CERES instrument, the proto flight model (PFM), was launched on November 27, 1997, as part of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Two CERES instruments (FM1 and FM2) were launched into polar orbit onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) flagship Terra on December 18, 1999. Two additional CERES instruments (FM3 and FM4) were launched onboard Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua on May 4, 2002. The CERES FM5 instrument was launched onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite on October 28, 2011. The newest CERES instrument (FM6) was launched onboard the Joint Polar-Orbiting Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1) satellite, now called NOAA-20, on November 18, 2017.

CER_CldTypHist_GEO-MODIS_Edition4A is the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)- Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and hourly geostationary cloud properties stratified by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) cloud types for day and night Edition 4A data product. Data collection is ongoing. The CERES-MODIS and hourly geostationary cloud properties (CldTypHist) data product contain monthly and one-hourly gridded regional mean cloud properties as a function of 18 cloud types, where the cloud properties are stratified by pressure, optical depth, and phase. Data is available day and night. The CldTypHist product combines cloud properties from Terra-MODIS (10:30 AM local equator crossing time LECT), Aqua-MODIS (1:30 PM LECT), and geostationary satellites (GEO) to provide the most diurnally complete product. The GEO cloud properties have been normalized with MODIS for diurnal consistency. The CERES MODIS-derived cloud properties are not the official NASA MODIS cloud retrievals but are based on the CERES cloud working group retrievals that are also available in other CERES products. The CERES MODIS-derived cloud properties provide coverage from pole to pole. The hourly GEO cloud properties come from five satellites at 8km nominal resolution with coverage limited to equatorward of 60 degrees. The GEO cloud retrievals incorporate additional channels as they become available on improved geostationary satellites that replaced earlier ones in the time period. The geostationary calibration is normalized to Terra-MODIS. Each CldTypHist file covers a single month.CERES is a key component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) program. The CERES instruments provide radiometric measurements of the Earth's atmosphere from three broadband channels. The CERES missions are a follow-on to the successful Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission. The first CERES instrument, the proto flight model (PFM), was launched on November 27, 1997, as part of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Two CERES instruments (FM1 and FM2) were launched into polar orbit onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) flagship Terra on December 18, 1999. Two additional CERES instruments (FM3 and FM4) were launched onboard Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua on May 4, 2002. The CERES FM5 instrument was launched onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite on October 28, 2011. The newest CERES instrument (FM6) was launched onboard the Joint Polar-Orbiting Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1) satellite, now called NOAA-20, on November 18, 2017.

This data set for the ISLSCP Initiative II data collection provides near surface meteorological variables, fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum at the surface, and land surface state variables, all with a spatial resolution of 1 degree in both latitude and longitude. There are four temporal categories of data: time invariant and monthly mean annual cycle fields (together referred to as "fixed" fields), monthly mean fields, monthly 3-hourly diurnal, and 3-hourly fields. Two types of variables exist in this data; instantaneous fields (primarily state variables), and average fields (primarily flux fields expressed as a rate). The Center for Ocean-Land Atmosphere Studies (COLA) near-surface data set for ISLSCP II was derived from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Model Inter-comparison Project (AMIP-II) reanalysis (http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/reanalysis2/), covering the years from 1979-2003. The data set for ISLSCP II covers the period from 1986 to 1995. The purpose of the reanalysis was to provide an improved version of the original NCEP/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis for General Circulation Model (GCM) validation. To co-register the NCEP/DOE reanalysis on the ISLSCP 1-degree grid, the reanalysis data set was regridded from its native T62 Gaussian grid) resolution (192 x 94 grid boxes globally) to 1-degree ISLSCP II required resolution.There are 136 compressed (.tar.gz) data files with this data set. When extrapolated, the individual data files are in ASCII (.asc) format.

ISCCP_TOVS_NAT_1 is the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) data set in the Native Data Format. It is a daily, global description of the ozone, temperature, and humidity distributions obtained from the analysis of data from the TOVS system. The TOVS data set contents include atmosphere and surface data including temperature structure, water, and ozone abundances obtained from the TOVS product and supplemented by two climatologies. The ISCCP_TOVS_NAT data set contains information concerning the atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles as well as the ozone column abundance. Data collection for this data set is complete.This data set is composed of 3 types of data files: CLIM MONTHLY, which contains the monthly climatological data obtained from balloon observations; TOVS MONTHLY, which contains the monthly climatological data computed from the daily TOVS values; and TOVS DAILY, which contains the daily composite of the TOVS Sounding Product. The data was collected on a global equal-area grid with the cell area equivalent to 2.5 degrees latitude/longitude at the equator. The grid began at the South Pole with the intersection of the Greenwich meridian (0 deg. longitude) and the South Pole as a cell corner. The TOVS system flew on the NOAA Operational Polar Orbiting Satellite series. Measurements from the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/2), the Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU), and the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) were processed by NOAA to produce the TOVS Sounding Product.ISCCP was the first project of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), to collect and analyze satellite radiance measurements to infer the global distribution of cloud radiative properties and their diurnal and seasonal variations. These data and analysis products were used to improve the understanding and modeling of the effects of clouds on climate. The ISCCP version of the ice/snow data set included only information concerning fractional coverage. The version actually used in the cloud analysis was changed in two ways: reductions to ice/snow presence and creation of margin zones in the data. The first of these was simply the process of converting the coded parameters in the original data set to code values that indicate only the presence or absence of sea ice and/or snow. The latter process filled in nearby grid cells in the data to indicate proximity to snow or sea ice covered locations. The second change is not included in the archived version of this data.

The VIIRS/SNPP Cloud Properties 6-min L2 Swath 750m product is designed to facilitate continuity in cloud properties between the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on the Aqua and Terra platforms and the series of VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instruments, beginning with the Suomi NPP spacecraft. The VIIRS Cloud Properties product consists of cloud optical and physical parameters. These parameters are derived using observations in visible through infrared spectral channels. VIIRS infrared channel radiances are primarily used to derive cloud top temperature, cloud top height, effective emissivity, an infrared cloud phase product (ice vs. water, opaque vs. non-opaque) and cloud fraction under both daytime and nighttime conditions. The VIIRS solar reflectance channels are primarily used to derive cloud optical thickness, particle effective radius, water path, and to inform the phase used in the optical retrievals. The VIIRS Cloud Properties product is a Level-2 product generated at 750 m (at nadir) spatial resolution.The current version-1.1 of the Level-2 CLDPROP product collection is corrected to address an issue with the cloud optical properties’ thermodynamic phase that caused erroneous liquid water cloud phase results.

This data set contains a mean monthly climatology for several climate variables averaged over the period from 1961 to 1990, and constructed from a data set of station 1961-1990 climatological normals, numbering between 19,800 (precipitation) and 3,615 (windspeed; see New et al, 1999 for details). The station data were interpolated as a function of latitude, longitude and elevation using thin-plate splines. The data comprise a suite of climate elements: precipitation, mean, maximum, and minimum temperature, frost frequency, diurnal temperature range, radiation, wet-day frequency, vapor pressure, wind, and cloud cover. There are 23 files in this data set provided at 0.5 and 1.0 degree spatial resolutions.

FIREXAQ_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data are in-situ cloud measurements collected onboard the DC8 aircraft during FIREX-AQ. This product features data collected by the CDP, CPSPD, and CAPS. Data collection for this product is complete.Completed during summer 2019, FIREX-AQ utilized a combination of instrumented airplanes, satellites, and ground-based instrumentation. Detailed fire plume sampling was carried out by the NASA DC-8 aircraft, which had a comprehensive instrument payload capable of measuring over 200 trace gas species, as well as aerosol microphysical, optical, and chemical properties. The DC-8 aircraft completed 23 science flights, including 15 flights from Boise, Idaho and 8 flights from Salina, Kansas. NASA’s ER-2 completed 11 flights, partially in support of the FIREX-AQ effort. The ER-2 payload was made up of 8 satellite analog instruments and provided critical fire information, including fire temperature, fire plume heights, and vegetation/soil albedo information. NOAA provided the NOAA-CHEM Twin Otter and the NOAA-MET Twin Otter aircraft to measure chemical processing in the lofted plumes of Western wildfires. The NOAA-CHEM Twin Otter focused on nighttime plume chemistry, from which data is archived at the NASA Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC). The NOAA-MET Twin Otter collected measurements of air movements at fire boundaries with the goal of understanding the local weather impacts of fires and the movement patterns of fires. NOAA-MET Twin Otter data will be archived at the ASDC in the future. Additionally, a ground-based station in McCall, Idaho and several mobile laboratories provided in-situ measurements of aerosol microphysical and optical properties, aerosol chemical compositions, and trace gas species. The Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) campaign was a NOAA/NASA interagency intensive study of North American fires to gain an understanding on the integrated impact of the fire emissions on the tropospheric chemistry and composition and to assess the satellite’s capability for detecting fires and estimating fire emissions. The overarching goal of FIREX-AQ was to provide measurements of trace gas and aerosol emissions for wildfires and prescribed fires in great detail, relate them to fuel and fire conditions at the point of emission, characterize the conditions relating to plume rise, and follow plumes downwind to understand chemical transformation and air quality impacts.