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*              Data format file for the AERONET Data Sets                      *
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Discussion of the Data Format


The NASA AERONET Spectroradiometer data set contains the following 10 data
files:

	Alta Floresta Data
	Brasilia Data
	Campo Grande Data
	Cuiaba  Data
	El Refugio Data
	Ji Parana  Data
	Potosi Mine Data
	Santarem Data
	Tukurui   Data
	Uberlandia  Data


The data files are in ASCII format and can be viewed by using a text editor. The
file header lists the the site location, the latitude and longitude, the
principal investigator and his or her email address, and the initial time (t0)
of the field experiment. The data section of the file is formatted as follows:

Date, Time, Time offset (days), AOT 1020, AOT 870, AOT 670, AOT 500, AOT 440,
AOT 340, Precipitable Water Vapor (cm)

where:

Date = dd:mm:yy
Time = hh:mm:ss
Time offset = time differential between current time and time of t0
AOT 1020 = Aerosol Optical Thickness at 1020 nanometers wavelength
AOT 870 = Aerosol Optical Thickness at 870 nanometers wavelength
AOT 670 = Aerosol Optical Thickness at 670 nanometers wavelength
AOT 500 = Aerosol Optical Thickness at 500 nanometers wavelength
AOT 440 = Aerosol Optical Thickness at 440 nanometers wavelength
AOT 340 = Aerosol Optical Thickness at 340 nanometers wavelength
Precipitable Water Vapor (cm) = precipitable water vapor in centimeters

A sample of the header and data file is shown below.

Site: Tukurui, Lat=-3.717000, Long=-49.683000, PI: Brent_Holben, His/Her
e-mail:brent@spamer.gsfc.nasa.gov,
t0: 09:09:95, 00:00:00
Date, Time, Time offset (days), AOT 1020, AOT 870, AOT 670, AOT 500, AOT 440,
AOT 340, Precipitable Water Vapor (cm)
09:09:95, 12:16:53, 0.511725, 0.146824, 0.175660, 0.239213, 0.369489, 0.440228,
0.608065, 3.608950

The data site is Tukurui located at latitude -3.717000, longitude -49.683000 and
the principal investigator is Brent Holben (e-mail address:
brent@spamer.gsfc.nasa.gov). The t0 (initial date/time) is 09:09:95, 00:00:00.

The sample data lines are read as follows:

Date: 09:09:95
Time: 12:16:53
Time offset: 0.511725
AOT 1020: 0.146824
AOT 870: 0.175660
AOT 670: 0.239213
AOT 500: 0.369489
AOT 440: 0.440228
AOT 340: 0.608065
Precipitable Water Vapor (cm): 3.608950

The data set covers 8/1/1995 through 9/30/1995. The individual data files cover 
all or some portion of the this time span. The latitude range is -20.45 to
-2.43 and the longitude range is -62.87 to -47.90. Data was taken during the day 
at the 10 different ground sites. Data was taken on a 15 minute interval, 
however, due to corrupt data, not all of the data intervals are recorded in the
data files. There are no data software files associated with the data set. 

For more information discribing the background to the SCAR_B_AERONET Data Set,
please refer to the scar_b_aeronet_readme.txt readme file or contact the Langley
DAAC at: 

	Langley DAAC User Services Office
	Mail Stop 157D
        NASA Langley Research Center
        Hampton, VA 23681-0001
        USA
        
        Phone: (757) 864-8656
        FAX: (757) 864-8807
        Email: larc@eos.nasa.gov
        Email: userserv@eosweb.larc.nasa.gov
	Website: http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov