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In this animation, the field of view of the Atmospheric Infrared
Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft is
represented by the blue beam as it sweeps back and forth through the
atmosphere down to the surface of the Earth. AIRS collects infrared
radiance data in this field of view. Panning down, a rainbow-colored
column representing temperature layers in the atmosphere is revealed.
Temperature values are one of the measurements that will be produced
from the infrared radiances. The white vertical beam that runs
horizontally across the column represents one scan of the AIRS
instrument across the column. The red footprints below the column are
meant to suggest the 30 individual vertical columns (profiles) that
are captured in one scan. One profile is pulled out of the column and
mapped on to a temperature scale to reinforce the idea that each
profile contains data up through a vertical column in the atmosphere.
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) in conjunction with the Advanced
Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) sense emitted infrared and microwave
radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's
weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments can make
simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even
in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing
different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map
of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights,
greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The
AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The AIRS Public Web site can be found at http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov.
