The Contribution of 17 Years of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Observations

With its launch onboard the NASA Aqua spacecraft in May 2002, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument became the first of six currently operating hyperspectral infrared sounders. The fundamental observations from AIRS are infrared spectra resolved into more than 2300 channels. Nearly 2 billion spectra emitted from the earth and its atmosphere have been obtained by AIRS since launch. These radiances, along with those from the companion Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), are retrieved into profiles of atmospheric temperature and water vapor amount, cloud top properties, trace gas amounts, and surface characteristics. Both spectra and retrievals have twice-daily global daily coverage at horizontal resolution of tens of kilometers. The seventeen year AIRS/AMSU record has contributed significantly to our understanding of weather, atmospheric processes, climate and climate change. Some highlights of those contributions are presented in this talk.