Aura MLS Daily Binned Relative Humidity With Respect To Ice on Zonal Grids

MLS/Aura Level 3 Daily Binned Relative Humidity With Respect To Ice (RHI) provides near-global atmospheric humidity measurements. The dataset contains daily binned averages, minima, maxima, standard deviations, and RMS values on zonal and vertical grids, derived from 118 and 190 GHz radiometer radiances. It is produced by the NASA GES DISC from EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations.

Use Cases

• Analyzing lat vs pressure zonal mean RHI to study vertical humidity distribution across 4-degree latitude bands.
• Using lat vs potential temperature zonal mean data to investigate humidity in isentropic coordinates.
• Examining equivalent latitude vs potential temperature zonal mean for vortex-centered analyses of polar regions.
• Comparing vortex average vs potential temperature data for studies of stratospheric polar processes.

Strengths

• Near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude.
• Recommended useful vertical range spans from 316 to 0.0215 hPa with 3-6 km resolution.
• Each data group provides multiple statistical measures: average, min, max, std dev, and rms.

Limitations

• Specific row count, sample size, and temporal coverage for individual files are not provided.
• Data usefulness is constrained to the recommended vertical range; interpretation outside this range may be limited.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) and the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument.

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the 118 and 190 GHz radiometers, processed into daily binned Level 3 products.

Time Range

Data files contain one year of data per file; specific years are not stated.

Freshness

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Geography

Near-global coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree latitude zonal increments.