BUV/Nimbus-4: Daily Ozone Nadir Profile and Total Column Data, 1970-1976

The Solar Backscattered Ultraviolet (SBUV) Level-2 daily product contains ozone nadir profile and total column data generated from the v8.6 SBUV algorithm. Data are available from May 1970 through April 1976, stored as daily HDF5 files ranging from about 1 to 5 Mbytes. This product was created by NASA and serves as input for monthly zonal mean data.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical ozone profile trends based on daily nadir profile data
• Validate satellite ozone retrieval algorithms based on the v8.6 SBUV methodology
• Study long-term atmospheric chemistry changes based on total column ozone measurements from 1970-1976

Strengths

• Data spans a six-year period from May 1970 through April 1976
• Files are stored in the structured HDF5 format, with sizes ranging from about 1 to 5 Mbytes
• Algorithm uses Brion-Daumont-Malicet ozone cross sections and an OMI-derived cloud-height climatology

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated from SBUV measurements on the Nimbus-4 satellite using the v8.6 SBUV algorithm.

Time Range

May 1970 through April 1976

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:32:15.599398; freshness should be verified