GOZCARDS Merged Nitric Acid: Satellite-Based Vertical Pressure Profiles

Merged nitric acid (HNO3) data from three satellite instruments: UARS MLS (1991-1997), ACE-FTS (2004-onward), and Aura MLS (2004-onward). The product provides 1-month Level 3 zonal averages on a vertical pressure grid from 147 to 1 hPa, including statistics like standard deviation and min/max values. It is produced by NASA and distributed in netCDF4 format.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric nitric acid trends based on multi-instrument merged data.
• Analyzing vertical distribution of HNO3 based on pressure grid data from 147 to 1 hPa.
• Assessing data variability and uncertainty based on provided standard deviation and min/max statistics.
• Conducting comparative studies of satellite instrument records (UARS MLS, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS).

Strengths

• Data merges records from three satellite instruments spanning from 1991 to the present.
• Includes statistical measures like standard deviation and minimum/maximum values for each zonal mean.
• Covers a defined vertical pressure range from 147 to 1 hPa.

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

Merging and bias removal of source satellite instrument data (UARS MLS, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS).

Time Range

1991 to present (with instrument-specific coverage periods).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:11:09.252236; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global zonal averages.