Daily Zonal Hydrogen Chloride Mixing Ratios from Aura MLS Satellite

2004 to present daily binned hydrogen chloride (HCl) mixing ratio data from the NASA Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). The dataset provides near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude, with profiles spaced ~165 km along the orbit track. It is produced by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) using version 5.1 processing algorithms.

Use Cases

• Analyze lat vs pressure zonal mean HCl averages to map global stratospheric chlorine reservoir distribution.
• Study vortex average vs potential temperature data to investigate polar ozone depletion dynamics.
• Use the standard deviation and RMS fields within each data group to quantify measurement uncertainty in trend analyses.
• Correlate equivalent latitude vs potential temperature zonal means with other trace gases to understand atmospheric transport processes.

Strengths

• Near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude.
• Recommended useful vertical range spans from 100 to 0.316 hPa with 3-6 km vertical resolution.
• Data is provided in netCDF4 format, which is widely supported by scientific tools and compatible with HDF5 readers.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is not fully global, excluding polar regions above 82 degrees latitude.
• The vertical resolution varies between 3 and 6 km, which may be coarse for some fine-scale atmospheric studies.
• Specific row counts and total file sizes are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the 640 GHz radiometer on the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite.

Time Range

2004 to present (ongoing mission).

Freshness

Data is updated with ongoing satellite measurements; specific last update date is unknown.

Geography

Near-global, -82 to +82 degrees latitude.