Global Water Vapor Zonal Averages from Merged Satellite Instruments

Merged water vapor data provides zonal means, standard deviations, and min/max values on a vertical pressure grid. The product combines measurements from the HALOE, ACE-FTS, and Aura MLS satellite instruments. NASA's GES DISC distributed this dataset, with a last update recorded in December 2012.

Use Cases

• Analyzing zonal mean water vapor concentrations across 10-degree latitude bands.
• Studying vertical profiles of H2O from 147 hPa to 0.01 hPa pressure levels.
• Investigating temporal trends using merged data from HALOE (1991-2005), ACE-FTS (2004-onward), and Aura MLS (2004-onward).
• Assessing variability through included statistical fields like standard deviation and minimum/maximum values.
• Comparing bias-corrected, merged satellite records against individual instrument data.

Strengths

• Data merges three major satellite instrument records (HALOE, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS) for continuity.
• Provides derived statistical metrics (zonal mean, standard deviation, min/max) for each data point.
• Covers a broad vertical pressure range from 147 hPa to 0.01 hPa.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is incomplete for recent years, with a last update in 2012.
• Spatial resolution is limited to 10-degree zonal (latitude) averages.
• The merging process may introduce uncertainties not fully quantified for all users.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).

Collection Method

Merging and bias removal of source data from HALOE, ACE-FTS, and Aura MLS satellite instruments.

Time Range

1991 to onward, with instrument-specific periods: HALOE (1991-2005), ACE-FTS (2004-onward), Aura MLS (2004-onward).

Freshness

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Geography

Global, averaged into 10-degree latitude zones.