NASA AERONET¶

The aeronet gatherer downloads direct-sun Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), Almucantar sky-radiance inversions, and Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm (SDA) products from NASA's global AErosol RObotic NETwork.

Overview¶

Provider: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Official Website: aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov
Data Portal: AERONET Data Access
Web Service API Documentation: AERONET V3 Web Service Help
Coverage: Global network of ~600 sun photometer stations
Temporal Resolution: High-frequency instantaneous sun measurements (~3–15 min)
Authentication: None required (open public access, no registration required)
Output Format: ASCII CSV tables with standard AERONET headers

Supported Products¶

Product Code	Name	Description
`AOD10`	Direct Sun AOD Level 1.0	Unscreened raw aerosol optical depth
`AOD15`	Direct Sun AOD Level 1.5	Cloud-screened and quality-controlled AOD
`AOD20`	Direct Sun AOD Level 2.0	Quality-assured post-calibrated AOD
`ALM15`	Almucantar Inversion Level 1.5	Size distribution, Single Scattering Albedo, refractive index
`ALM20`	Almucantar Inversion Level 2.0	Quality-assured Almucantar inversion products
`SDA10`	Spectral Deconvolution Level 1.0	Fine mode & coarse mode AOD separation
`SDA15`	Spectral Deconvolution Level 1.5	Cloud-screened fine/coarse mode AOD
`SDA20`	Spectral Deconvolution Level 2.0	Quality-assured fine/coarse mode AOD

Parameters Reference¶

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`station`	`str`	required	Station name (e.g. `"Granada"`, `"Magurele_Inoe"`, `"El_Arenosillo"`)
`product`	`str \\| list[str]`	`["AOD15"]`	Product code(s) to fetch
`start_date`	`str`	required	Start date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`end_date`	`str`	required	End date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`overwrite_cache`	`bool`	`False`	Force re-download even if cached

Canonical Vocabulary & Aliases

The canonical parameter names are station, product, start_date, and end_date. Aliases site, site_id, and data_type are accepted for backward compatibility.

Python API Usage¶

from gathering import Task

# Single task definition
task = Task.aeronet(
    station="Granada",
    product=["AOD15", "ALM15", "SDA20"],
    start_date="2023-07-01",
    end_date="2023-07-05",
)

# Run download
results = task.run()
for file_path in results.files:
    print(f"Downloaded: {file_path}")

CLI Usage¶

gathering aeronet \
  --station Granada \
  --product AOD15 ALM15 SDA20 \
  --start_date 2023-07-01 \
  --end_date 2023-07-05

YAML Configuration¶

# ==============================================================================
# NASA AERONET — Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) & Almucantar Inversions
# ==============================================================================

logging:
  level: INFO

tasks:
  # Task 1: Level 1.5 & Level 2.0 Spectral AOD
  - source: aeronet
    site: Granada
    start_date: "2023-07-01"
    end_date: "2023-07-05"
    product:
      - AOD15   # Level 1.5 Cloud-screened AOD
      - AOD20   # Level 2.0 Quality-assured AOD
    overwrite_cache: false

  # Task 2: Almucantar Inversions & SDA Fine/Coarse Mode Separation
  - source: aeronet
    site: Granada
    start_date: "2023-07-01"
    end_date: "2023-07-05"
    product:
      - ALM15   # Level 1.5 Almucantar Inversion
      - ALM20   # Level 2.0 Almucantar Inversion
      - SDA20   # Level 2.0 Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm
    overwrite_cache: false

Download Directory Structure¶

Downloaded files are organized under the default cache directory (/workspace/.cache/gathering/):

/workspace/.cache/gathering/aeronet/
└── Granada/
    ├── 20230701_20230705_Granada_AOD15.csv
    ├── 20230701_20230705_Granada_ALM15.csv
    └── 20230701_20230705_Granada_SDA20.csv