TES Frequently Asked Questions

General Information

When did TES begin taking measurements?

TES began making measurements on August 22, 2004. The routine TES observation mode is to produce global survey standard products spanning 16 orbits on a 50% duty cycle, or approximately every other day. The "off" days can be used for special observations such as intensive campaigns to observe volcanic eruptions, biomass burning, and pollution events.

Data File Information

TES Level 1B

• TES Level 1B data files contain radiometric calibrated spectral radiances and their corresponding noise equivalent spectral radiances (NESR). The geolocation, quality and some engineering data are also provided.
• A Level 1B data file contains data from a single TES orbit for one focal plane. Note that a TES orbit starts at the South Pole Apex.
• A Level 1B granule contains four files for a single orbit, one file for each of the four focal planes. Note that a granule is the orderable quantity of data.

• The table below illustrates the TES Level 1B file naming conventions.

  ESDT Short Name	File Name	Product
  TL1BN	TES-Aura_L1B-Nadir_FPfp_rrun id-oorbit number_version id.h5	Standard
  TL1BSOL	TES-Aura_L1B-SO-Low_FPfp_rrun id-oorbit number_version id.h5	Special Observation/Low Resolution
  TL1BSOH	TES-Aura_L1B-SO-High_FPfp_rrun id-oorbit number_version id.h5	Special Observation/High Resolution

  • fp represents the two-character focal plane identifier: 1A, 1B, 2A or 2B
  • run id represents the ten-digit run identification number.
  • orbit number represents the starting five-digit Absolute Orbit number, which is the same as the Aura orbit number at the time of the South Pole apex crossing.
  • version id represents the version identification number, which is used to keep track of file format and file content changes.
    For more information about file version identification, see the TES Data Products Specification document.
  • .h5 extension denotes the use of HDF5 file format.

TES Level 2

• TES Level 2 files contain measurements of a single molecular species or temperature. The Level 2 Ancillary Data Product contains information such as geolocation and spacecraft position, which are common to the individual Level 2 species and temperature Standard Product files. A TES Level 2 granule contains a single data file.

• The tables below illustrates the TES Level 2 file naming conventions.

  Standard Products

  ESDT Short Name	File Name
  TL2CH4N	TES-Aura_L2-CH4-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2CON	TES-Aura_L2-CO-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2H2ON	TES-Aura_L2-H2O-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2O3N	TES-Aura_L2-O3-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2ATMTN	TES-Aura_L2-ATM-TEMP-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2ANC	TES-Aura_L2-ANCILLARY_rrun id_version id.he5

  
  

  Special Observations

  ESDT Short Name	File Name
  TL2CH4NS	TES-Aura_L2-CH4-SO-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2CONS	TES-Aura_L2-CO-SO-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2H2ONS	TES-Aura_L2-H2O-SO-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2O3NS	TES-Aura_L2-O3-SO-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2TNS	TES-Aura_L2-ATM-TEMP-SO-Nadir_rrun id_version id.he5
  TL2ANCS	TES-Aura_L2-ANCILLARY-SO_rrun id_version id.he5

  • run id represents the ten-digit run identification number.
  • version id represents the version identification number, which is used to keep track of file format changes.
    For more information about file version identification, see the TES Data Products Specification document.
  • .he5 extension denotes the use of HDF-EOS5 file format.

TES Level 3

• The objective of TES SDP L3 subsystem is to interpolate the L2 atmospheric profiles collected in a Global Survey onto a global grid uniform in latitude and longitude that will provide a 3-D representation of the distribution of atmospheric gasses. The L3 standard data products are composed of L3 HDF-EOS grid data.

• The L3 standard product files are implemented using the HDF-EOS 5 file format. HDF-EOS 5 files have a default extension of ".he5". The ECS Local Granule ID (filename) for a L3 standard product is constructed using the following template:

  File Type	File Name Convention
  daily	TES-Aura_L3-<species>_<run id>_<version id>.he5
  8-day	TES-Aura_L3-<species>-8D<year><doy>_<version id>.he5
  monthly	TES-Aura_L3-<species>-M<year><month>_<version id>.he5

  
  

  Notation	Format	Description
  <doy>	dddd	<doy>: first day of the 8-day period d : day of year format placeholder ddd : 3-digit number representing day of year
  <month>	mmm	m : month format placeholder mm : 2-digit number representing month
  <run id>	rnnnnnnnnnn	r : Run ID format placeholder nnnnnnnnnn : string representing 10-digit Run ID
  <version id>	Fff_cc	F : File format placeholder ff : 2-digit version number reflecting file format changes cc : 2-digit version number reflecting content changes
  <year>	yyyy	yyyy: 4-digit number representing year