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AIRS Code Collection

The AIRS Code Collection provides command-line tools and supporting libraries for processing, analyzing, and retrieving information from NASA Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder observations.

This manual is the user-facing entry point for the repository. It complements the generated Doxygen reference with practical guidance on building the code, understanding the executable layout, and running the main AIRS workflows.

Repository Overview

  • src/: C source files, shared libraries, and executable targets.
  • libs/: bundled dependency archives and the helper script to build local libraries.
  • tests/: regression workflows with sample AIRS data and reference outputs.
  • docs/: MkDocs and Doxygen configuration.

Main Capabilities

  • Read AIRS Level-1B radiance granules and derive spectra, quality flags, maps, and orbit information.
  • Create perturbation products for gravity-wave analysis.
  • Estimate noise, variances, wave events, and spectral characteristics.
  • Run AIRS retrieval and non-LTE processing through the shared JURASSIC infrastructure.
  • Provide small utility programs for time conversion, geometry, and diagnostics.

Documentation Map

  • Getting Started: prerequisites, dependency build, and compilation.
  • Workflow: practical end-to-end usage patterns derived from the repository tests.
  • Control Files: how AIRS tools read ctl settings.
  • Command Reference: grouped summary of the executables built from src/.
  • Testing: available regression checks and expected inputs.
  • Links: repository, citation, Doxygen, and related references.

Contact

Dr. Lars Hoffmann, l.hoffmann@fz-juelich.de

Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich