This factsheet provides the information on the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder(AIRS), which advances climate research and weather prediction into the 21st century. AIRS is one of six instruments onboard Aqua, a satellite that is part of NASA
JPL Historian Erik Conway provides an overview of the sequence of events that lead to the link between human activity, carbon dioxide, and global warming. Conway also examines how the spaceborne instrument, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, has become part of the story.
How does a spaceborne instrument like AIRS extract carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere, and what is its data revealing?
A NASA/university team has published the first global satellite maps of the key greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in Earth's mid-troposphere, an area about 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, above Earth. The team's study reveals new information on how carbon dioxide, which directly contributes to climate change, is distributed in Earth's atmosphere and moves around our world.
This brochure describes the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. AIRS enhances the quality of global meteorological observations which yields considerable economic benefits through more reliable climate prediction, improved weather forecasts, better understanding of the factors influencing air quality, and mitigation of the economic and human costs of natural hazards.
