GOZCARDS Source Nitric Acid: Satellite Zonal Averages on a Pressure Grid

NASA's GOZCARDS source data provides 1-month zonal averages of nitric acid concentrations from multiple satellite instruments. The data, covering a vertical pressure range from 147 to 1 hPa, includes calculated means, standard deviations, and minimum/maximum values. It is derived from UARS MLS (1991-1997), ACE-FTS (2004 onward), and Aura MLS (2004 onward) instruments.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in stratospheric nitric acid based on multi-instrument satellite records.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models using zonal mean concentrations on a pressure grid.
• Studying the vertical distribution of HNO3 from 147 to 1 hPa for climate research.
• Comparing nitric acid data from UARS MLS, ACE-FTS, and Aura MLS instruments.

Strengths

• Combines data from three long-running satellite instruments (UARS MLS, ACE-FTS, Aura MLS).
• Provides derived statistics like standard deviation and min/max values alongside zonal means.
• Covers a specific 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 (NASA)

Collection Method

Zonal means calculated from original Level 2 satellite instrument data.

Time Range

1991 to present (with gaps per instrument)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:30:41.243609; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global zonal averages