Earthdata Forum

Why do TEMPO Level 3 (L3) scans cover different amounts of time?

TEMPO Level 3 scans can vary from about 40 to 60 minutes, or even shorter time periods during certain special observation scans. To maximize data measurements, nominal daytime scans follow available daylight, resulting in more frequent, but partial Field of Regard (FOR), scans in the mornings and evenings. The early morning scans only cover the east coast of North America and part of the Midwest and the late evening scans only cover the Midwest and west coast of North America. This results in variable scan timesteps throughout the day.