Data Sources Overview¶
gathering provides a unified interface across 9 distinct ground-based and spaceborne atmospheric observation sources.
Comparison Matrix¶
| Source | Provider | Web Portal | Authentication | Registration / Access | Spatial Filtering | Output Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AERONET | NASA GSFC | aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov | Open Access | No registration needed | Station Name | ASCII CSV |
| ACTRIS Ares | ACTRIS / EARLINET | ares.actris.eu | Open Access | No registration needed | Station Code | NetCDF / NASA Ames |
| ACTRIS Cloudnet | ACTRIS / FMI | cloudnet.fmi.fi | Open Access | No registration needed | Station Name | NetCDF-4 |
| Pandonia / PGN | NASA / ESA / LuftBlick | pandonia-global-network.org | API Key | Request PGN Key | Station Name | ASCII / BZ2 |
| Copernicus CDSE | Copernicus / ESA | dataspace.copernicus.eu | User/Pass | Register CDSE Account | Grid / BBox | NetCDF / SAFE / S3 |
| EUMDAC | EUMETSAT | data.eumetsat.int | Key + Secret | Register EO Portal · API Keys | Grid (Chunk) / BBox | NetCDF / Native Tar |
| ESA EarthCARE | ESA / MAAP / JAXA | earthcare.esa.int | User/Pass / Token | Register ESA MAAP | Grid / BBox | NetCDF-4 / HDF5 |
| NASA PACE | NASA OB.DAAC | pace.gsfc.nasa.gov | Earthdata Login | Register Earthdata | Grid / BBox | NetCDF-4 |
| NASA MODIS | NASA LAADS & LP DAAC | modis.gsfc.nasa.gov | Earthdata Login | Register Earthdata | Grid / BBox | HDF-EOS (HDF4/HDF5) |
Category Breakdown¶
Ground-Based Networks¶
- AERONET: Spectral Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) at standard wavelengths (340–1640 nm), Almucantar aerosol volume size distributions, single scattering albedo, and fine/coarse mode partitioning via Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm (SDA).
- ACTRIS Ares: Aerosol remote sensing lidar profiles (extinction, backscatter) and in-situ aerosol optical, physical, and chemical properties from the European ACTRIS research infrastructure.
- ACTRIS Cloudnet: Continuous vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols combining cloud radar, ceilometer/lidar, and microwave radiometer (MWR) with automated categorization and liquid/ice water content (LWC/IWC).
- Pandonia Global Network (PGN): High-precision ground-based direct-sun and zenith-sky spectrometer measurements of trace gas total and tropospheric vertical column densities (NO₂, O₃, HCHO, SO₂, H₂O).
Satellite Platforms & Missions¶
- Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem (CDSE): European Copernicus earth observation constellation, including Sentinel-2 MSI multispectral surface reflectance, Sentinel-3 OLCI ocean/land colour, Sentinel-3 SLSTR land/sea surface temperature, and Sentinel-5P TROPOMI atmospheric chemistry.
- EUMETSAT Data Store (EUMDAC): Geostationary and polar weather satellite streams, including Meteosat Third Generation (MTG FCI) with automated 40-chunk ROI spatial selection, Meteosat Second Generation (MSG SEVIRI), and Metop (IASI, AVHRR, GOME-2).
- ESA EarthCARE: Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer mission, featuring the Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID Level 1B/2A), Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI), and joint multi-instrument synergy products.
- NASA PACE: Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission, featuring the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI hyperspectral), SPEXone polarimeter, and HARP2 hyper-angular rainbow polarimeter.
- NASA MODIS: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard NASA Terra and Aqua satellites, including MOD04/MYD04 aerosols, MCD19A2 MAIAC 1km high-resolution AOD, MOD02 calibrated radiances, and MCD43 BRDF/Albedo.
