Daily Binned Water Vapor Mixing Ratio from Aura MLS Satellite

ML3DZH2O provides daily binned water vapor mixing ratio data derived from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder's 190 GHz radiometer. The dataset offers near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree zonal increments. It is produced by the GES DISC and contains data files archived in netCDF4 format, each covering one year of observations.

Use Cases

• Analyze lat vs pressure zonal mean fields to track seasonal variations in stratospheric humidity.
• Use equivalent latitude vs potential temperature zonal mean groups to study polar vortex dynamics and water vapor transport.
• Leverage the vortex average vs potential temperature data for research on atmospheric composition within the Antarctic or Arctic vortex.
• Apply the provided standard deviation and RMS fields for uncertainty quantification in climate model validation.
• Correlate water vapor mixing ratios with other atmospheric parameters using the geolocation and grid attribute fields.

Strengths

• Near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude.
• Data is binned into four distinct group objects (e.g., lat vs pressure zonal mean) for varied analysis.
• Each data group includes multiple statistical fields: average, min, max, standard deviation, and RMS.

Limitations

• Vertical resolution degrades from 1.5 km at 316 hPa to 15 km above 0.1 hPa, limiting fine-scale analysis in the upper atmosphere.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to one-year per file, requiring multiple file downloads for long-term trend analysis.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Data files contain one year of data per file.

Freshness

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Geography

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