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Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE)

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, SAGE, is a series of instruments designed by NASA to observe stratospheric ozone, aerosols, and water vapor from space. In the mid-1980s, scientists realized there was a problem with Earth’s protective coat of ozone...it was thinning. The SAGE family of instruments was pivotal in making accurate measurements of the amount of ozone loss in Earth’s atmosphere and helped leaders around the world institute an international treaty banning products containing harmful chemicals that destroy stratospheric ozone. SAGE is a key part of NASA’s mission to provide crucial, long-term measurements that will help humans better understand and care for Earth’s atmosphere.

SAGE III/ISS Level 2 Aerosol Auxiliary Product Release Announcement

Stratospheric aerosol plays an important role in chemistry and climate. Space-based observations of their optical properties have been key elements of the study of the effects of major volcanic and extreme fire events. To aid users of SAGE III/ISS Level 2 aerosol data, the mission is releasing a Level 2 aerosol auxiliary product that identifies cloud-free observations using the method of Kovilakam et al. 2023 (https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2709-2023). The algorithm is similar to that developed for the Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (GloSSAC), in which SAGE III/ISS data plays a crucial role alongside other space-based measurements (asdc.larc.nasa.gov/project/GloSSAC). The new Level 2 aerosol auxiliary product is released at the same cadence as the L2 solar products. For general ease of use, the results are grouped into monthly netcdf file.

Information about these new data products can be found at the following ASDC link: https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/project/SAGE III-ISS

These data products are available from the ASDC via the following options:

Earthdata Search

Direct Data Download

OPeNDAP

Time series of globally averaged Stratospheric Aerosol Optical Depth (SAOD) for 1020 nm. Credits: NASA/SSAI