Climate data Record of Stratospheric aerosols (CREST)

The Climate data REcord of STratospheric Aerosols (CREST) is derived from data by six limb and occultation satellite instruments: SAGE II on ERBS, GOMOS and SCIAMACHY on Envisat, OSIRIS on Odin, OMPS on Suomi-NPP, and SAGE III on International Space Station. The merged dataset was generated as a contribution to the European Space Agency project CREST (https://eo4society.esa.int/projects/crest/). The merging of aerosols profiles is performed by transformation the aerosol datasets from individual satellite instruments to the same wavelength, i.e., 750 nm, and their homogenization by adjusting the seasonal cycles. The merged aerosol extinction coefficient is computed as the median of the adjusted data from the individual instruments. The merged time series of monthly mean aerosol extinction vertical profiles at 750 nm is provided in 10 deg latitude bands from 90S to 90N, in the altitude range from 8.5 km to 39.5 km. The time series of stratospheric optical depth is created by integration of aerosol extinction profiles from the tropopause to 39.5 km; it is also provided as monthly mean data in 10 deg latitude bands. All the aerosol climate records cover the time period from October 1984 until December 2023, and they are intended be extended in the future.