ML3DZH2O: Daily Binned Water Vapor Mixing Ratio from Aura Satellite

Near-global (-82 to +82 degrees latitude) daily binned water vapor data derived from the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). The dataset, version 5.1, is produced by NASA and contains one year of data per file, with a recommended vertical range between 316 and 0.00215 hPa. Data is archived in netCDF4 format and includes zonal means and vortex averages across multiple coordinate grids.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric humidity trends based on daily binned, near-global water vapor mixing ratios.
• Analyzing atmospheric dynamics using data binned on zonal, potential temperature, and equivalent latitude grids.
• Studying polar vortex composition using the vortex average vs potential temperature data group.
• Validating climate models with satellite-derived water vapor profiles spanning a vertical range from 316 to 0.00215 hPa.

Strengths

• Provides near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4-degree zonal increments.
• Data files contain one year of data and are stored in the widely compatible netCDF4 format.
• Includes multiple statistical measures per grid (average, min, max, std dev, rms) for analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The vertical resolution degrades from 1.5 km at 316 hPa to 15 km above 0.1 hPa.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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; specific years are not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:02:30.691578; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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