Skip Navigation
menu close modal
Multimedia

Using AIRS Data in Science Research

Published: July 10, 2019

August 31, 2009

From improving forecast prediction skill to identifying errors in climate models to measuring trace gases in Earth's atmosphere, scientists talk about the quality of AIRS data and how it's helping them in their research.

PREVIEW

Related

Monthly AIRS temperature anomaly over the AIRS record (2002-2020) aggregated into five vertical categories.
More
Globes and time series showing temperature anomalies.
AIRS Temperature Anomaly Trends, 2002-2020
The 2020 ozone hole was one of the largest and longest lasting ozone holes on record. The animation flies in and swings by the ozone hole giving a closer look at the isosurface around the ozone hol...
More
Ozone hole evolution on globe.
Ozone Hole Isosurface, August-December 2020
AIRS Level 3 Daily Temperatures at 500 mb for January, February and March 2019. Ascending and Descending orbits are averaged.
More
Air Temperature at 500 hPa
Polar Vortex – Air Temperature at 500 hPa, January-March 2019
In this animation, NASA instruments show the seasonal cycle of vegetation and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
More
Watching Earth Breathe: The Seasonal Vegetation Cycle and Carbon Dioxide
Watching Earth Breathe: The Seasonal Vegetation Cycle and Carbon Dioxide
20-year (2002-2022) record of upper tropospheric methane observed by AIRS in a global map and northern mid-latitude time series.
More
20-year (2002-2022) record of upper tropospheric methane observed by AIRS in a global map and northern mid-latitude time series.
20-year Record of Methane Observed by AIRS (2002-2022)
Ozone hole mosaic animation 2003-2019
More
Globes representing years from 2003-2019 show ozone hole evolution
Ozone Hole 19-year Record, mosaic animation 2002-2020
The Antarctic Vortex forms early in polar winter and is relatively isolated from the air in the southern midlatitudes.
More
Ozone Hole Evolution, August 1 through November 30, 2018
Ozone Hole Evolution, August 1 through November 30, 2018
AIRS Level 3 Monthly average temperatures at 500mb from October 2002, to October 2019, north polar view.
More
AIRS Level 3 Monthly average temperatures at 500mb from October 2002, to October 2019, north polar view.
Air Temperature 500 hPa, North Polar View, 2002 – 2019
In this animation, the field of view of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft is represented by the blue beam as it sweeps back and forth through the atm...
More
AIRS Collects Data and Creates a Temperature Profile
AIRS Collects Data and Creates a Temperature Profile
During the month of January 2014, the continental United States experienced several bouts of extremely cold air that moved southward from the north polar region.
More
Temperature Anomaly corresponding to January 2014 Polar Vortex Activity
Temperature Anomaly corresponding to January 2014 Polar Vortex Activity
Time series 2003-2019 shows a persistent source of CO in the Central African regions during late summer with reduced persistence in the South American regions in the later years. 
More
Globes shows time series of carbon monoxide transport.
Carbon monoxide time series mosaic animation, 2003-2019
Packing gusts of nearly 300 kilometers per hour (184 miles per hour) and sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour), Super-Typhoon Pongsona struck the U.S. Island of Guam on De...
More
Super-Typhoon Pongsona, December 2002
Super-Typhoon Pongsona, December 2002
The continuing heat wave in the United States in July 2011 has broken temperature records in many locations, killed dozens and seen nearly half of all Americans under heat advisories at its peak.
More
U.S. 2011 Heat Wave: Surface Skin Temperature Anomaly, Night
U.S. 2011 Heat Wave: Surface Skin Temperature Anomaly, Night
Animation showing surface air temperature maps with geopotential height contours (in km at the 200 hPa pressure surface) overlaid over North America and the Arctic from February 17th to 26th, 2023,...
More
Animation of surface air temperature and geopotential height during February 2023 cold outbreak over US
Animation of surface air temperature and geopotential height during February 2023 cold outbreak over US
AIRS Level 3 daily average water vapor from November 2018 to November 2019 plotted as an isosurface over the globe.
More
AIRS Level 3 daily average water vapor
Water Vapor Isosurfaces 12.2018–12.2019
Larrabee Strow of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has spent a career teasing out Earth's atmospheric molecules and studying how they react using a technique called high resolution spe...
More
How to build an indisputable climate record - An interview with Larrabee Strow
How to build an indisputable climate record - An interview with Larrabee Strow
Trace gases in Earth's atmosphere are the driver of climate change, says Chris Barnet of NOAA-NESDIS.
More
Climate change, trace gases, and satellites - An interview with Chris Barnet
Climate change, trace gases, and satellites - An interview with Chris Barnet
An animated map and time series of mid-tropospheric carbon monoxide over 2002-2022 as observed by AIRS.
More
An animated map and time series of mid-tropospheric carbon monoxide over 2002-2022 as observed by AIRS.
AIRS Global Carbon Monoxide over 20 Years (2002-2022)
The Antarctic Vortex forms early in polar winter and is relatively isolated from the air in the southern midlatitudes.
More
NASA’s AIRS Sees Formation of Ozone Hole Over South Pole, August 1 through November 23, 2016
NASA's AIRS Sees Formation of Ozone Hole Over South Pole, August 1 through November 23, 2016
This movie was produced with data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft shows the spread of carbon monoxide pollution across North America from fires in ...
More
Animation: AIRS Instrument Sees Spread of Pollution from Western Wildfires, August 2013
Animation: AIRS Instrument Sees Spread of Pollution from Western Wildfires, August 2013
AIRS scientist Ed Olsen was interviewed and filmed for Eco Company, a national TV show hosted by teens.
More
Water Vapor a Greenhouse Gas?
Water Vapor a Greenhouse Gas?
This animation, created with data acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite, shows the total amount of water vapor contained in the atmosphere for most...
More
NASA's AIRS Sees Rivers of Rain for California
NASA's AIRS Sees Rivers of Rain for California
This visualization is a time-series of the global distribution and variation of the concentration of mid-tropospheric carbon dioxide observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the NASA ...
More
AIRS Data - Carbon Dioxide Seasonal Variation and Increase, 2002-2008
AIRS Data - Carbon Dioxide Seasonal Variation and Increase, 2002-2008
Although originally designed to measure atmospheric water vapor and temperature profiles for weather forecasting, data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecr...
More
Global Carbon Dioxide, July 2003
Global Carbon Dioxide, July 2003
Cyril Crevoisier of France's National Center for Scientific Research talks about the challenges of retrieving atmospheric carbon dioxide and his effort to find its sources and sinks.
More
Teasing out Carbon Dioxide From Earth's Atmosphere - An interview with Cyril Crevoisier
Teasing out Carbon Dioxide From Earth's Atmosphere - An interview with Cyril Crevoisier

News & Features