ML3DZHNO3: Daily Binned Nitric Acid Mixing Ratios from Aura Satellite

Near-global (-82 to +82 degrees latitude) daily binned nitric acid (HNO3) mixing ratio data derived from NASA's Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite. The dataset, produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, provides data from August 2, 2004 to the present, with a vertical range from 215 to 1.47 hPa. Data files are stored in netCDF4 format and contain zonal mean and vortex average statistics across different coordinate grids.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric nitric acid distribution based on zonal mean data across latitude and pressure grids.
• Analyzing long-term trends in atmospheric composition based on data coverage from 2004 to present.
• Studying polar vortex chemistry based on the vortex average vs potential temperature data group.
• Validating climate model outputs for HNO3 using the provided statistical fields (average, min, max, std dev, rms).

Strengths

• Long temporal coverage from August 2004 to current, enabling trend analysis.
• Near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree increments.
• Data includes multiple statistical measures (average, min, max, std dev, rms) for each grid group.
• Files are in netCDF4 format, which is compatible with standard scientific data tools.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific ML tasks.
• The recommended useful vertical range is limited to between 215 and 1.47 hPa.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the 240 GHz and 190 GHz radiometers on the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS).

Time Range

August 2, 2004 to current

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:04:22.621075; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Near-global (-82 to +82 degrees latitude)