NASA Satellite-derived Data Products used in UV Dose Modeling

**Please note**: SEDAC no longer produces these products since a similar data product is available from Goddard Space Flight Center.

HISTORICAL AND CURRENT NASA PRODUCTS

Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)

The original TOMS instrument was launched in 1978, on board the Nimbus-7 platform. TOMS began taking measurements in December of 1978, and operated nearly continuously until May 1992, thereby producing the longest continual dataset of global total column ozone measurements. The primary TOMS data product is total column ozone abundance in units of milliatmospheres per centimeter, commonly refered to as Dobson Units (DU), which is the total amount of ozone in a 1-cm column extending from the ground to the top of the atmosphere. TOMS achieves nearly global coverage each day due to its orbital parameters and downward-viewing scanning radiometers which provide total ozone amounts on a 1x1.25 degree latitude/longitude resolution. Individual data points are incorporated into the ultraviolet radiation dose calculations by finding the appropriate daily value based on the date and latitude/longitude coordinates of the location of interest. For more information on TOMS, see the following on-line resources:
• TOMS home page
• NASA Fact Sheet: TOMS
• Atmospheric Ozone & Data Resources at the GSFC DAAC

Earth Probe/TOMS

The Earth Probe/TOMS was launched July 2, 1996 from a Pegasus rocket carried on an L-1011 aircraft, and began data collection on July 17. This will provide the first TOMS measurements since Meteor3/TOMS ceased operations. Earth Probe/TOMS was launched into a lower orbit than originally planned in order to compliment the subsequent launch of the ADEOS/TOMS instrument in August 1996. The lower orbit will not allow daily global coverage as with the original Nimbus-7 TOMS, but will still be positioned to cover the development of the Antarctic ozone hole in the Austral spring, as well as Arctic conditions during the northern hemisphere spring. For more information and the latest data available from Earth Probe/TOMS, see the following on-line resource:
• Earth Probe/TOMS Information and Near Real-Time Data

ADEOS/TOMS

An additional TOMS instrument was launched on the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing System (ADEOS) mission on 17 August 1996. This satellite was placed in a higher orbit that the Earth Probe/TOMS that provides global coverage of total column ozone on a daily basis. For more information on ADEOS/TOMS and the ADEOS mission in general, see the following on-line resources:
• ADEOS/TOMS Data and Information
• Advanced Earth Observation Satellite (ADEOS)

International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP)

The ISCCP database contains information on surface and atmospheric properties, radiances, and cloud parameters. These datasets, beginning in 1983 and extending to present-day are derived from observations collected by a suite of polar orbiting and geostationary satellite platforms. Instrument measurements from these satellites are integrated to produce global gridded data at a 280-km resolution. Cloud data from ISCCP used in the ultraviolet radiation dose calculations include optical depth and cloud amount. Following total column ozone abundance and the position of the sun in the sky, cloud optical depth and the amount of cloud are the next most important parameters influencing the amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface of the Earth. As with the TOMS data, individual data values are incorporated into the dose calculations by finding the appropriate value based on the date and latitude/longitude coordinates of the location of interest. For more information on ISCCP, see the following on-line resources:
• ISCCP home page
• Updated ISCCP Data from the NASA LaRC DAAC

PLANNED NASA/EOS MISSIONS

Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)^*

CERES contains two broadband scanning radiometers, each containing total radiance, shortwave, and longwave channels, that will be used to derive atmospheric radiance and cloud properties at 21 km nadir resolution. This will provide high-resolution cloud parameters including areal coverage, cloud height, and optical depth, which are very important in evaluating the ultraviolet radiation budget at the surface of the Earth. Langley Research Center (NASA/LaRC) is the agency responsible for the instrument, which is scheduled for flight on TRMM (1997), EOS AM-1 (1998), and the EOS PM-1 (2000) spacecraft. For more information on CERES, visit their home page at:
• CERES home page

Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS)^*

MODIS is a multi-spectral cross-track scanning radiometer designed to measure parameters related to biological and physical processes on a global scale on a time frame of 1-2 days. The spectral bands of the scanning radiometer will have spatial resolutions of 250-1000 m at nadir, thus producing very high spatial resolution data sets. Specific data products useful for UV modeling activities include cloud cover with 250 m daytime resolution, cloud optical thickness, aerosol optical depth, and cirrus cloud cover. Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) is the responsible agency for MODIS, which is scheduled for flight on the EOS AM (1998, 2004) and EOS PM (2000, 2006) series. For more in-depth information on MODIS, see the following on-line resource:
• MODIS home page

Ozone Dynamics Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ODUS)^*

This instrument is being provided to NASA by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). ODUS is a nadir-viewing instrument that will provide daily global ozone measurements in a similar fashion as the NASA TOMS instruments. Total column NO2 and volcanic SO2 emissions are also expected to be retrieved from the measurements. ODUS is scheduled for the EOS CHEM series, to be launched in the year 2002.

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)^*

TES is a high-resolution infrared Fourier transform spectrometer that can operate either in a limb-scanning mode to derive vertical profiles of species such as ozone at a height resolution of 2.3 km, or in a downward-looking mode where it can provide high-resolution local coverage (5x0.5 km) or global coverage (50x5 km) of integrated column abundances of several atmospheric species. This instrument is being designed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) primarily for atmospheric chemistry purposes, but derived ozone profiles can also be useful in ultraviolet radiation modeling. TES is scheduled for the EOS CHEM-1 spacecraft, to be launched in the year 2002.

^* REFERENCE:
Asrar, G. and R. Greenstone. 1995 MTPE EOS Reference Handbook. EOS Project Science Office, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 1995.

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