Welcome to the Global Stratospheric Aerosol Watch (GSAW) portal!
The GSAW portal is conceived for quick visualization of various satellite observations relevant for stratospheric aerosols with a focus on extreme events (e.g. wildfires/pyroCb and volcanic eruptions reaching the stratosphere). It provides visualization of Near-Real Time (NRT) data (latency of 1–3 hours) as well as historical data dating back to 1979.
The portal includes several modules offering various ways of data visualization for the following purposes:
NRT detection of extreme events: wildfire outbreaks and volcanic eruptions
Spatiotemporal tracking of aerosol plumes in NRT mode
Raising awareness of the experimental teams and planning measurement activities
Source attribution of aerosol plumes in the UTLS
Multi-scale analysis of stratospheric aerosol perturbations, their evolution and longevity
The most advanced interactive module enabling NRT visualization of global nadir mapping and along-orbit vertical sections. The geographic maps of UV-absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI) and SO2 total column are overlayed by satellite orbit ground tracks (clickable) that display corresponding vertical curtains of aerosol/clouds. Post-KUMAR comprises the following objects:
Zoomable and color-scalable daily maps of AAI and SO2 total column.
Satellite ground tracks (clickable) and along-orbit cross sections.
Aerosol layer detections (color-coded by layer top altitude)
Solar occultations (clickable) and vertical profiles of aerosol and gases
. Post-KUMAR comprises the following objects:
Daily maps of AAI and SO2 total column (zoomable and color-scalable)
(Operational tool for global near-real time detection and tracking of wildfire smoKe plUMes in the upper troposphere and lower strAtospheRe) displays global daily maps of TROPOMI AAI and CO total columns. in the Northern and Southern extratropics overlaid by wind vectors at different pressure levels in UTLS and detects wildfire events generating high AAI values that are indicative of smoke injections into the UTLS.
Oper-KUMAR can generate e-mail alerts upon detection of high-AAI plumes.
Serves for operational monitoring of wildfire activity in the primary wildfire regions: North America, Siberia and Australia. It displays interactive plots with time series of the wildfire intensity related metrics: Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) region-cumulated and maximum wildfire radiative power, TROPOMI and OMPS-NM regional maximum AAI and OMPS-LP SALD count in the extratropics.
Enables NRT tracking of zonal progression of wildfire smoke plumes in the UTLS using Hovmöller longitude–time diagrams of OMPS-NM AAI overlayed by OMPS-LP SALD altitude for different latitude bands since 2012.
Displays the time–latitude evolution of stratospheric aerosol optical depth (SAOD) from S-NPP OMPS-LP since 2012 and GloSSAC merged satellite record since 1979. The figures include the location and timing of volcanic eruptions and wildfire outbreaks with impact on the stratosphere.
Displays hourly images of Earth derived from various geostationary satellites, overlayed with EarthCARE ground tracks (clickable) that enable rapid access to the corresponding ATLID quicklooks: vertical curtains of aerosol/clouds.
Displays nightly time curtains of scattering ratio profiles from LTA aerosol lidar at Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP). The lidar quicklooks are available since 2020/01. There is an option to download the lidar data.
For any inquires and suggestions please use the contact form below: