AIRS Images of Isabel

Visualization of AIRS Level-1B and Level-2 HDF Data Sets

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is an ultra-high spectral resolution infrared grating spectrometer aboard the EOS Aqua satellite. AIRS and its partner sounder, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A), measure humidity, temperature, cloud properties, and amounts of greenhouse gases. AIRS also provides land and sea surface temperatures. Five AIRS flagship science products are publicly available to the user community: AIRS IR radiance, AIRS Vis/NIR radiance, AMSU brightness temperatures, cloud cleared radiance and core retrieval products. The AIRS Data Support Team has developed IDL-based tools for visualizing these data products. Hurricane Isabel is shown below from the unique perspective of AIRS, for September 16, 2003.

VIS_Rad (AIRVBRAD/Level-1B) AIRS calibrated Vis/NIR radiances. This image is a false color composite using 0.71-0.92 µm, 0.58-0.68 µm, and 0.40-0.44 µm bands. The nadir pixel resolution is 2.3 km.	AIRS_Rad (AIRIBRAD/Level-1B) AIRS calibrated IR radiances. There are 1378 channels to choose from, covering the 3.7-15.4 µm spectral region. The nadir pixel resolution is 13.5 km.
AMSU_Rad (AIRABRAD/Level-1B) AMSU-A1 and A2 combined calibrated brightness temperatures. AMSU-A is primarily a temperature sounder that provides atmospheric information in the presence of clouds, which can be used to correct the AIRS IR measurements for the effects of clouds. The nadir pixel resolution is 40.5 km.	CC (AIRI2CCF/Level-2) AIRS IR radiances for each cloud-free AMSU footprint. Cloud bands from Isabel are clearly delineated in this image. Measurements are made at 2378 spectral channels just like the AIRIBRAD product.