ATMOSL2AF: Atmospheric Trace Gas Profiles from Space Shuttle Missions

ATMOS L2 Trace Gases on Altitude Grid, Fixed Field Format V3 (ATMOSL2AF) is a NASA dataset containing vertical concentration profiles for over 30 trace gases, including ozone-depleting substances. The data were collected by the ATMOS Fourier transform spectrometer during four space shuttle missions between 1985 and 1994. Measurements are reported at 100 altitude levels from 0.5 to 99.5 km, with files organized by mission, occultation type, and number.

Use Cases

• Modeling vertical distribution of ozone-depleting chlorine and fluorine molecules based on reported HCl, ClONO2, and CFC concentrations.
• Analyzing diurnal variations in nitrogen oxides based on the NO and NO2 data mentioned in the description.
• Studying the atmospheric water cycle and isotopic composition using H2O and HDO measurements.
• Investigating long-lived greenhouse gases like SF6 and CF4 for climate change studies.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models against in-situ satellite occultation measurements from specific shuttle missions.

Strengths

• Reports concentrations for over 30 distinct chemical species, providing a multi-component atmospheric snapshot.
• Data spans four distinct space shuttle missions from 1985 to 1994, offering multiple temporal snapshots.
• Vertical profiles are provided at 100 altitude levels from 0.5 to 99.5 km, offering high vertical resolution.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection is limited to four specific mission periods, not providing continuous temporal coverage.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical modeling.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier transform interferometer during space shuttle occultation measurements.

Time Range

April 30 to May 1, 1985; March 25 to April 2, 1992; April 8 to 16, 1993; November 3 to 12, 1994.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:11:05.678873; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage along the space shuttle occultation tracks.