ML3MBN2O: Monthly Binned Nitrous Oxide Mixing Ratios from Aura Satellite

MLS/Aura Level 3 data provides monthly binned nitrous oxide (N2O) mixing ratios derived from satellite radiance measurements. The dataset offers near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at a 4°x5° resolution, with a vertical range from 68.1 to 0.464 hPa. It is produced by NASA and archived in netCDF4 format, with files containing six group objects for different spatial and vertical analyses.

Use Cases

• Modeling global nitrous oxide transport and distribution based on monthly binned averages.
• Analyzing stratospheric-tropospheric exchange processes using vertical profiles from 68.1 to 0.464 hPa.
• Studying seasonal and interannual variability of N2O using zonal mean and lat-lon map data groups.
• Investigating polar vortex chemistry using the vortex average vs potential temperature data group.

Strengths

• Near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude.
• Data includes multiple statistical measures per grid: average, min, max, standard deviation, and RMS.
• 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.
• The recommended useful vertical range is limited to between 68.1 and 0.464 hPa.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) 640 GHz and 190 GHz radiometers.

Time Range

Monthly binned data; specific start and end dates are not provided in the description.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:31:23.306352; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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