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Atmospheric Water Vapor
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H2O, H2O Concentration, Moisture, Humidity, Specific
Humidity, Relative Humidity, Dew Point Temperature, Precipitable Water Vapor,
Total Precipitable Water Vapor, Water Vapor Column Density
Atmospheric Water Vapor, Precipitable Water Vapor, or Humidity is a measure of the water vapor content of
the air. It is one of the most important greenhouse gas of the atmosphere.
More than fifty percent of all of the atmospheric water vapor is found below 2-km
altitude, and only a minute fraction of the total occurs above the tropopause. Water vapor is
a major vehicle for the transport of energy (latent heat) and acts as a regulator of
planetary temperatures through absorption and emission of radiation, most significantly in
the thermal infrared (the greenhouse effect).
There are number of atmospheric variables that are used to express the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere. Some of them are briefly described below:
Absolute Humidity: The mass of water vapor per unit volume of air containing the the water vapor (units g/m3)
Specific Humidity: It is ratio of weight of water vapor in
a specified volume to the weight of air (dry air plus water vapor) in the same volume (dimensionless).
Relative Humidity: It is ratio of actual measured water vapor amount to the saturation vapor
pressure (the maximum possible water vapor amount after which it condenses as dew) at a specific
temperature.
Precipitable Water Vapor: Amount of water (depth of vertical column of unit-crossectional area) which would be obtained if all the water vapor in a specified
column of the atmosphere were condensed to liquid.
Dewpoint Temperature: It is the temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled (at constant pressure) for saturation to occur. It is also used as a measure of humidity.
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Stratosphere-troposphere exchange
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GES DISC Datasets
Quick Search for 'Atmospheric Water Vapor' with Mirador
Click on the corresponding 'WHOM access' links in the table below to access products containing specific parameter.
| Begin Date |
End Date |
WHOM Access |
Doc |
Water Vapor Mixing Ratio Profile (layer H2O Concentration)
(ground pixel resolution) |
mixing ratio |
Aura/MLS
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2004-08-08 |
Current |
ML2H2O.001
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Y
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ML2H2O.002
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Y
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Aura/HIRDLS
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2004-07-15 |
Current |
HIRDLS2
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Y
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Water Vapor Mixing Ratio Profile (layer H2O Concentration)
(daily, global, gridded ) |
mixing ratio |
Aura/MLS
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2004-08-08 |
Current |
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Y
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Aura/HIRDLS
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2004-07-15 |
Current |
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Y
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| Water Vapor Mixing Ratio Profile (pixel resolution) |
mixing ratio |
UARS/HALOE
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1991-10-11 |
2005-11-21 |
UARHA2FN
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Y
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Nimbus-7/LIMS
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1978-10-25 |
1985-05-01 |
LIMSN7L2
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Y
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| NOAA/TOVS |
1978-11-30 |
1995-07-05 |
NOAA/TOVS
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Y
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| Water Vapor Mixing Ratio Profile (Global Gridded Daily, at equal interval of Latitude or Time |
mixing ratio |
UARS/HALOE
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1991-10-11 |
2005-11-21 |
UARHA3AT
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Y
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UARS/CLAES
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1991-10-25 |
1993-05-05 |
UARCL3AL
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Y
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UARCL3AT
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Y
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UARS/ISAMS
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1991-09-26 |
1992-07-29 |
UARIS3AL
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Y
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UARIS3AT
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Y
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UARS/MLS
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1991-09-18 |
1999-07-28 |
UARML3AL
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Y
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UARML3AT
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Y
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Water Vapor Mixing Ratio and
Saturation Mass Mixing Ratio Profiles
(ground pixel resolution, 45 x 45 km at Nadir) |
gm/kgm |
Aqua/AIRS
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2002-08-30 |
Current |
AIRX2RET.003
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Y
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AIRX2RET.005
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Y
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| Water Vapor Mixing Ratio and Std.Dev(Daily, Weekly and Monthly Averages, Global 1deg x 1deg grids)
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gm/kgm |
Aqua/AIRS
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2002-08-30 |
Current |
AIRL3.003
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Y
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AIRL3.005
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Y
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Water Vapor Mixing Ratio for 18 pressure layers
(Daily and Monthly Averages, at 4 deg intervals of latitude )
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ppmv |
Nimbus-7/LIMS
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1978-10-25 |
1985-05-01 |
LIMSN7L2
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Y
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Water Vapor Profile
(ground pixel resolution, 45 x 45 km at nadir) |
molecules/cm2 |
Aqua/AIRS
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2002-08-30 |
Current |
AIRX2SUP.003
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Y
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AIRX2SUP.005
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Y
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| Water Vapor Profile(daily daytime/nighttime, 5-day,and Monthly Averages, Global 1 deg x 1 deg grids)
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cm |
NOAA/TOVS |
1978-11-30 |
1995-07-05 |
NOAA/TOVS
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Y
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| Total Water Vapor(Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Averages, Global 1deg x 1deg grids)
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kg/m2 |
Aqua/AIRS
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2002-08-30 |
Current |
AIRL3.003
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Y
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AIRL3.005
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Y
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| Precipitable Water Vapor (daily, global gridded)
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cm |
TRMM/TMI
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1997-12-07 |
Current |
2A12
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Y
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3A12
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Y
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| TRMM/PR |
1997-12-07 |
Current |
3B31
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Y
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| Relative Humidity and Std.Dev.for 12 atmospheric layers(Daily Weekly and Monthly Averages, Global 1deg x 1deg grids)
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unitless |
Aqua/AIRS
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2002-08-30 |
Current |
AIRL3.003
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Y
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AIRL3.005
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Y
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Relative Humidity with respect to Ice
(ground pixel resolution, 45 km at nadir) |
unitless |
Aura/MLS
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2004-08-08 |
Current |
ML2RHI.001
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Y
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ML2RHI.002
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Y
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Relative Humidity with respect to Ice
(daily, global, gridded) |
unitless |
Aura/MLS
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2004-08-08 |
Current |
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Y
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Other sources for data
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Atmos Composition
