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

MLS/Aura Level 3 Daily Binned Cloud Ice (IWC) on Zonal and Similar Grids V005 (ML3DZIWC) is a satellite-derived dataset for cloud ice water content. The data version is 5.1, with near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree increments. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and archived in netCDF4 format, with each file containing one year of data.

Use Cases

• Analyzing zonal mean distributions of cloud ice based on latitude vs pressure grids.
• Studying atmospheric vortex dynamics using the vortex average vs potential temperature group.
• Investigating vertical profiles of cloud ice water content within the 215 to 82.5 hPa range.
• Calculating statistical properties (average, min, max, std dev) of cloud ice for climate trend analysis.

Strengths

• Data is binned on defined zonal and vertical grids, providing structured spatial aggregation.
• Each data group contains a set of statistical fields including average, min, max, standard deviation, and RMS.
• Files contain one year of data, offering a substantial temporal unit for analysis.
• The recommended useful vertical range is specified from 215 to 82.5 hPa with a vertical resolution of about 3 km.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML tasks.
• The description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

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).

Time Range

Each file contains one year of data; specific years are not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:34:00.732784; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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