ML3DZT: Daily Binned Atmospheric Temperature from Aura MLS Satellite

Daily binned temperature data derived from radiances measured by the 118 and 240 GHz radiometers on the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite. The data version is 4.2, with near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree increments. Each netCDF4 file contains one year of data, organized into four group objects for zonal and vortex averages.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric temperature trends based on daily binned zonal means.
• Analyzing polar vortex characteristics using the vortex average vs potential temperature data.
• Studying atmospheric stability with data binned on equivalent latitude vs potential temperature grids.
• Validating climate models using the provided statistical fields (average, min, max, std dev, rms).

Strengths

• Data spans a useful vertical range from 261 to 0.001 hPa with a vertical resolution between 3 and 6 km.
• Provides multiple statistical summaries (average, min, max, standard deviation, RMS) for each grid group.
• Near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at consistent 4-degree zonal increments.
• Data is archived in netCDF4 format, which is compatible with standard HDF5 readers and tools.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the satellite's near-global coverage.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:32:22.317597; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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