Same product as the “AERO-AC-absorption-6km” one. A variable called “AAC_QUALITY_ASSURANCE” is provided in the data file and can be used to filter the data. It ensures the quality of the retrieval of the above cloud aerosol single scattering albedo. You have to filter the product on your own as explained below.
| AAC_QUALITY_ASSURANCE | (threshold=0.085 / below this threshold remove the data if you only want quality pixels for the retrieval of the aerosol single scattering albedo) |
File naming convention
PARASOL_PM02-L2_<Year>-<Month>–<Day>T<Hour>-<Minutes>-<Secondes_V4-00_forcing.hdf
The files exit in both hdf5 and netcdf formats.
Description of variables
Grey shaded boxes in the table indicate products at a resolution of 18´18km2. All other products are given or aggregated at the POLDER native resolution of 6´6km2.
| Name | Description | Unit | Information |
| m_sza | Sun zenithal angle | degrees | used for the calculation of the aerosol above cloud instantaneous direct forcing |
| Latitude | Geodetic latitude | degrees | |
| Longitude | Geodetic longitude | degrees | |
| aerosol_optical_thickness_ over_cloud_18km | Mean spectral aerosol optical thickness over cloud at 670nm (first slide) and 865 nm (second slide) at medium resolution (1/6 degrees) | none | |
| aerosol_optical_thickness_ over_cloud_stdev_18km | Standard deviation of mean spectral aerosol optical thickness over cloud at 670nm (first slide) and 865 nm (second slide) at medium resolution (1/6 degrees). | none | |
| aerosol_optical_thickness_ over_cloud_count_18km | Number of valid inversions of aerosol optical thickness over cloud used to derive product at medium resolution (1/6 degrees) | none | |
| cloud_fraction_18km | Cloud fraction at medium resolution (1/6 degrees). | none | Value -1 is used when no detection information is available at pixel level. |
| AAC_rmse | Root mean square error for absorption of aerosol above clouds derived from total radiances | none | |
| AAC_SSA | aerosol above cloud single scattering albedo, at 490, 550, 670 and 865 nm | none | |
| AAC_COT | cloud optical thickness corrected from the absorption of aerosol above cloud | none | POLDER cloud optical thickness corrected from the absorbing aerosols. |
| AAC_angstrom_absorption_corrected | angstrom exponent between 670 and 865 nm of aerosol above cloud corrected from absorption | none | |
| AAC_AOT_absorption_corrected | aerosol above cloud optical thickness corrected from absorption, at 490, 550, 670 and 865 nm | none | |
| aerosol_angstrom_coefficient_over_cloud_18km | Mean aerosol Angstrom coefficient between 670 and 865 nm at medium resolution (1/6 degrees). | none | |
| Latitude_18km | Geodetic latitude at medium resolution (1/6 degrees) | degrees | |
| Longitude_18km | Geodetic longitude at medium resolution (1/6 degrees) | degrees | |
| myd06_l2_cloud_top_pressure | Cloud_Top_Pressure | hPa | Operational MODIS data aggregated within the 6×6km2 POLDER pixel |
| myd06_l2_cloud_optical_thickness | MYD06_L2 Cloud_Optical_Thickness two-channel retrieval using band 7 and either band 1, 2, or 5 (specified in Quality_Assurance_1km) | none | MODIS data aggregated within the 6×6km2 POLDER pixel This is the MODIS operational product without correction for the absorbing aerosols. |
| myd06_l2_cloud_effective_radius | MYD06_L2 Cloud Particle Effective Radius two-channel retrieval using band 7 and either band 1, 2, or 5 | microns | MODIS data aggregated within the 6×6km2 POLDER pixel This is the MODIS operational product without correction for the absorbing aerosols. |
| myd06_l2_cloud_optical_ thickness_uncertainty | MYD06_L2 Cloud Optical Thickness Relative Uncertainty (Percent) | % | MODIS data aggregated within the 6×6km2 POLDER pixel. |
| myd06_l2_cloud_effective_radius_uncertainty | MYD06_L2 Cloud Effective Particle Radius Relative Uncertainty (Percent) | % | MODIS data aggregated within the 6×6km2 POLDER pixel. |
| scene_apparent_pressure | Scene apparent pressure differential O2 derived method | hPa | POLDER cloud product without correction for the absorbing aerosols. |
| ad_scene_apparent_ pressure | Scene apparent pressure differential O2 derived method angular dispersion | none | POLDER cloud product without correction for the absorbing aerosols. |
| scene_rayleigh_pressure | Scene Rayleigh pressure | hPa | POLDER cloud product without correction for the absorbing aerosols. |
| ISinus_Grid_Row_Shift_Medium_Resolution | Row shift in POLDER Isinusoidal reference grid | POLDER technical parameter | |
| ISinus_Grid_Row_Shift_Full_Resolution | Row shift in POLDER Isinusoidal reference grid | POLDER technical parameter | |
| AAC_FORCING_CLOUD _ALBEDO | Cloud albedo | none | Intrinsic cloud albedo |
| AAC_FORCING_AEROSOL_ALBEDO | Scene albedo (aerosol+cloud) | none | Scene albedo at TOA |
| AAC_FORCING_INSTANT_FORCING | Instantaneous aerosol above clouds radiative forcing | W.m-2 | Computed over the solar spectrum at the time of the POLDER overpass |
| AAC_QUALITY_ ASSURANCE | Index of quality | none | (threshold=0.085 / below this threshold remove the data if you only want quality pixels) |
