AIRS Project Instrument Suite

The AIRS Project Instrument Suite measures wavelengths from visible into the microwave. The regions were chosen to sample water at various altitudes, as well as emission wavelengths of other gasses that allow sounding, such as CO₂ and O₂.

Spectral ranges of all of the EOS Aqua instruments

The AIRS Vis/NIR photometer measures low-level clouds in the visible and NIR.

spectral response functions of the four Vis/NIR photometer bands on AIRS

The AIRS spectrometer measures water vapor and trace gasses in the NIR, MWIR, and LWIR. AIRS has 17 detector array modules covering a continuous spectral range for each module. The spectral range for each module is shown in the table below.

Module Name	Start ν (cm^-1)	End ν (cm^-1)
M-01a	2552	2677
M-02a	2432	2555
M-01b	2309	2434
M-02b	2169	2312
M-04a	1540	1614
M-04b	1460	1527
M-03	1337	1443
M-04c	1283	1339
M-04d	1216	1273
M-05	1055	1136
M-06	973	1046
M-07	910	974
M-08	851	904
M-09	788	852
M-10	727	782
M-11	687	729
M-12	649	682

spectral coverage of AIRS, showing major spectral features

AMSU-A

Channels 1-2: surface and moisture

Channels 3-14: oxygen absorption band, providing the primary temperature sounding

Channel 15: surface and moisture (total precipitable water and cloud liquid water)

HSB

(AMSU-B channel numbers):

Channel 17: 150 GHz deeper penetration through the atmosphere to the Earth's surface

Channels 18-20: span the strongly opaque water vapor absorption line at 183 GHz and provide data on the atmosphere's humidity level

spectral features and windows in the microwave relevant to the AIRS Project Instrument Suite