Corrupted HDF4 chunk in 3 AIRIBRAD (V005) granules — year 2014

[dengchuangwu]

Dear GES DISC Help Desk,

We are writing for assistance with a data-quality issue in the AIRIBRAD product (AIRS/Aqua L1B Infrared geolocated and calibrated radiances, Version 005; DOI 10.5067/YZEXEVN4JGGJ) served by GES DISC. Three 2014 granules each contain one internally corrupted data chunk in the radiances dataset that cannot be decompressed by any HDF4-based reader. We would appreciate verification on the
DAAC side and, if confirmed, re-ingestion / re-serving of these granules.

Affected granules (HDF-EOS / HDF4 .hdf; the radiances dataset has shape 135 × 90 × 2378, i.e. 135 along-track scans × 90 cross-track × 2378 channels):
- Granule 1: AIRS.2014.06.10.047.L1B.AIRS_Rad.v5.0.22.0.G14161111358.hdf
corrupted scan: 122 (0-based index of the 135 along-track scans)
- Granule 2: AIRS.2014.07.20.207.L1B.AIRS_Rad.v5.0.22.0.G14202104547.hdf
corrupted scan: 59
- Granule 3: AIRS.2014.08.16.030.L1B.AIRS_Rad.v5.0.22.0.G14228103832.hdf
corrupted scan: 82

Diagnosis summary:
- The three files are fully downloaded (sizes 55.9, 59.2 and 60.2 MB) and are not truncated, so this is not a transfer error.
- The corruption is confined to exactly one along-track scan (1 of 135) per file, in the internal gzip-compressed HDF4 chunk for that scan.
- The defect is in the file itself, not in any single decoder: three independent HDF4-based tools — netCDF4 (HDF4 SD interface), pyhdf (SD), and the GDAL HDF4 driver — all fail deterministically and at the identical chunk when reading that one scan, while the other 134 scans read back correctly.
- The remaining 134 scans of each granule are intact and scientifically usable.
We can provide the downloaded files, exact byte ranges, or decoder tracebacks on request.

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Diagnostic information
resolution; no passwords included)
- Earthdata login userid: dengchuangwu
- Specific URL accessed: https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/AIRIBRAD_005/summary
- Date and time of access: 2026-09-12
- General type of research: Using AIRS infrared radiances to study cloud–radiation coupling and atmospheric gravity-wave signals.
- Data product / data set / variable searched for: Product AIRIBRAD (AIRS/Aqua L1B IR radiances, Version 005); variable of interest: radiances.
- Platform / OS: PC / Windows 10
- Application used: Custom Python processing pipeline that retrieves HDF-EOS granules directly; not Giovanni, WMS, or OPeNDAP.
- Significant error messages seen: Reading the affected scan raises an HDF4 library I/O error during gzip decompression of that scan's chunk. Observed consistently across netCDF4, pyhdf (SD), and the GDAL HDF4 driver (all fail at the same chunk); the remaining 134 scans read normally. We can attach the full Python tracebacks if helpful.

Thank you for your help and for maintaining the AIRS archive.

[GES DISC - thearty]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have verified that there is a problem with these granules and will invite the AIRS project management to comment on this issue. In the mean time, we suggest that you not use these granules. For now the affected granules have been removed from the archive.