PIA09941: AIRS-Retrieved Global Tropospheric Methane for August 2005
 Target Name:  Earth
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Aqua
 Spacecraft:  Aqua
 Instrument:  AIRS
 Product Size:  6444 x 5172 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA09941.tif (99.99 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA09941.jpg (1.271 MB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image is the AIRS-retrieved global tropospheric methane for August 2005. This AIRS research product will aid in the identification of natural and anthropogenic sources of this greenhouse gas, its seasonal and multi-year variation and its transport around the globe at several altitudes in the troposphere.

About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, senses emitted infrared and microwave radiation from Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to 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, three-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. Launched into Earth orbit in 2002, the AIRS and AMSU instruments fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about AIRS can be found at http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
2007-07-24