Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II

Data obtained from the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement (SAM) II instrument, which flew on board the Nimbus-7 satellite, are used to determine the vertical distribution of stratospheric aerosols in the polar regions of both hemispheres.

Disciplines:   Aerosols
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
SAM2_AERO_PRF_NAT_1
The Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II (SAM II) Data set (SAM2_AERO_PRF_NAT)
Aerosols Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: -90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Vertical Resolution Range:
100 meters - < 1 km
Vertical Resolution:
1  km Altitude
Temporal Coverage:
1978-10-29 - 1993-12-18
Temporal Resolution Range:
Hourly - < Daily
Temporal Resolution:
Sunrise/Sunset Event

SAM-II Mission Publications

Pitts, Michael C.; Poole, Lamont R.; Gonzalez, Ryan (2018). Polar stratospheric cloud climatology based on CALIPSO spaceborne lidar measurements from 2006 to 2017.


Wang P-H, Kent GS, Powell KA, Yue GK, Poole LR, McCormick PM (2000). Properties of the 1979 SAM II Antarctic 1.0-µm extinction coefficients: Implications of dehydration and seasonal evolution of the Antarctic polar vortex. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105 (D7), 9407. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD901123


Stenchikov GL, Kirchner I, Robock A, Graf H-F., Antuna J C, Grainger RG, Lambert A, Thomason L (1998). Radiative forcing from the 1991 Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103 (D12), 13837. https://doi.org/10.1029/98JD00693