The aerosol measurement and processing system (AMAPS)

摘要

As the collection of Earth science datasets continues to grow, so too grows the challenge in the ability to collect, interpret, assimilate, compare, and combine them. Stores of data, already enormous, continue to amass. New instruments are built that introduce differences in measurements and retrieval algorithms from previous ones. Data are rarely collocated either spatially or temporally, and rarely represent equivalent quantities even for similarly named parameters. Uncertainties must be understood and accounted for. Formats differ. In the realm of diverse data sources, the analyst each time must become an expert in the data from each source, and that expertise is disseminated in the form of publications (if at all), but analysis tools are not, and must be continually redeveloped. AMAPS addresses each of these areas in a way that provides a breakthrough in the analyst’s ability to efficiently and effectively make use of the vast wealth of data that continues to accumulate. AMAPS is targeted to aerosol data acquisition and analysis. Data from disparate aerosol sources, including the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), and the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), are efficiently retrieved and transformed behind the scenes to a common format via SciFlo. Analysis algorithms for collocation and comparison between sources are generalized so that researchers have access to a common set of tools applied consistently to each data source. AMAPS has established a successful track record in supporting scientific research.