ATMOSL2PT: Atmospheric Trace Gas Profiles from Four Space Shuttle Missions

Vertical concentration profiles for over 30 atmospheric trace gases, including ozone-depleting molecules, measured at 85 pressure levels from 1 to 10^-7 atm. The data were collected by the ATMOS infrared spectrometer during four NASA space shuttle missions between 1985 and 1994. Files contain time, geolocation, and other information, stored in a tab-delimited ASCII format.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric ozone depletion based on chlorine and fluorine-based molecule concentrations.
• Analyzing vertical distribution patterns of trace gases like H2O, CO2, O3, and CH4 across 85 pressure levels.
• Studying diurnal variations in atmospheric chemistry using both corrected and uncorrected NO and NO2 data.
• Investigating long-term changes in atmospheric composition by comparing data from four missions spanning 1985-1994.

Strengths

• Contains measurements for over 30 distinct chemical species, including key ozone-depleting compounds.
• Data is reported at 85 vertical pressure levels, providing high-resolution atmospheric profiles.
• Covers four distinct space shuttle missions over a nine-year period from 1985 to 1994.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Data collection ended in 1994, limiting analysis of recent atmospheric changes.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier transform interferometer on space shuttle missions.

Time Range

April 30, 1985 to November 12, 1994

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:10:29.825106; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage along the space shuttle flight paths and occultation points.