ML3DZN2O: Daily Binned Nitrous Oxide Mixing Ratios from Aura Satellite

ML3DZN2O is the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder daily binned nitrous oxide product, version 4.2. The dataset provides near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree increments, with a vertical range from 68.1 to 0.464 hPa. Data files contain one year of data each and are archived in netCDF4 format.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric nitrous oxide transport based on zonal mean data across latitude and pressure grids.
• Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability of N2O using daily binned averages and standard deviations.
• Studying polar vortex dynamics using the 'equivalent latitude' vs 'potential temperature' zonal mean group.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models with satellite-derived mixing ratios and associated error statistics.

Strengths

• Data version is specified as 4.2, indicating a processed and versioned product.
• Spatial coverage is near-global (-82 to +82 degrees latitude) at 4-degree latitude increments.
• Vertical resolution is between 4 and 6 km across the recommended useful range from 68.1 to 0.464 hPa.
• Data is archived in netCDF4 format, which is compatible with HDF5 readers and standard scientific 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 analyses.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder's 640 GHz and 190 GHz radiometers.

Time Range

Data files contain one year of data each; specific start/end dates are not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:03:53.043836; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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