MLS/Aura: Daily Binned Cloud Ice Water Content on Global Grids

MLS/Aura Level 3 data provides daily binned measurements of cloud ice water content derived from satellite radiances. The data offers near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at a 4x5 degree resolution and a useful vertical range from 215 to 82.5 hPa. This product, version 5.1, is archived in netCDF4 format by NASA and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling global cloud ice distribution based on daily binned averages and zonal means.
• Analyzing atmospheric vertical profiles of ice water content based on pressure and potential temperature grids.
• Studying polar vortex dynamics using the equivalent latitude and vortex average data groups.
• Validating climate model outputs for cloud microphysics using the provided statistical fields (average, min, max, std dev, rms).

Strengths

• Data is binned onto multiple consistent grids (lat-lon vs pressure, zonal means, vortex averages) for different analysis approaches.
• Provides statistical summaries per grid cell, including average, minimum, maximum, standard deviation, and root mean square.
• Archived in the self-describing netCDF4 format, which is also compatible with HDF5 tools.
• Covers a near-global latitude range from -82 to +82 degrees with a defined vertical resolution of about 3 km.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download or from the referenced quality document.
• The recommended useful vertical range is limited to between 215 and 82.5 hPa.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for some statistical applications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the 240 GHz radiometer on the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite.

Time Range

Daily binned product; specific date range is not provided in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:05:30.416286; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Near-global coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude.