Merged Satellite Hydrogen Chloride Zonal Averages on Pressure Grid

GOZCARDS Merged Hydrogen Chloride data provides zonal means, standard deviations, and min/max values on a vertical pressure grid from 147 to 0.5 hPa. The product merges HCl measurements from the HALOE (1991-2005), ACE-FTS (2004-onward), and Aura MLS (2004-onward) satellite instruments. This Level 3 dataset was produced by GES DISC and last updated in December 2012.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in stratospheric hydrogen chloride using the zonal mean values from the merged HALOE, ACE-FTS, and Aura MLS records.
• Assessing variability and uncertainty in HCl concentrations by examining the provided standard deviation and minimum/maximum value fields.
• Studying the vertical distribution of chlorine reservoir gases across pressure levels from 147 to 0.5 hPa.
• Validating chemical transport models by comparing simulated HCl profiles against the 10-degree zonal average data.
• Investigating inter-hemispheric differences in HCl by analyzing the latitudinal structure inherent in the zonal means.

Strengths

• Merges data from three major satellite instruments (HALOE, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS) for a continuous record.
• Provides derived statistics including standard deviation and minimum/maximum values alongside zonal means.
• Covers a specific vertical pressure range from 147 to 0.5 hPa for atmospheric profile analysis.

Limitations

• Data recency is limited, with the last update recorded in 2012, missing over a decade of recent observations.
• The merging process may introduce biases or uncertainties not fully characterized without the source data product (GozSmlpHCl).
• Spatial resolution is coarse, aggregated into 10-degree zonal averages.

Provenance

Source

GES DISC, merging data from HALOE, ACE-FTS, and Aura MLS satellite instruments.

Collection Method

Zonal means calculated from merged source datasets after bias removal and averaging.

Time Range

1991 onward (HALOE: 1991-2005; ACE-FTS & Aura MLS: 2004-onward).

Freshness

Last updated 2012-12-31; update frequency unknown.

Geography

Global coverage, aggregated into 10-degree latitude zones.