ML3MBRHI: Monthly Binned Atmospheric Humidity on Assorted Grids

Monthly binned data from the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) provides relative humidity with respect to ice (RHI) on multiple vertical grids. The dataset, version 4.2, offers near-global coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at a 4°x5° resolution, with a vertical range from 316 to 0.0215 hPa. Each netCDF4 file contains six group objects for different spatial and vertical analyses, including lat-lon maps, zonal means, and vortex averages.

Use Cases

• Analyzing upper tropospheric humidity trends based on monthly binned lat-lon maps.
• Studying zonal mean humidity distributions using the lat vs pressure group objects.
• Investigating polar vortex composition and dynamics with the vortex average vs theta data.
• Assessing data uncertainty for climate models using the standard deviation and RMS fields included in each group.

Strengths

• Data is binned monthly, providing a stable temporal aggregation for trend analysis.
• Offers a specific vertical resolution of 3-6 km and a useful range from 316 to 0.0215 hPa.
• Structured in six distinct group objects within each file, facilitating different analytical views (e.g., maps, zonal means).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided on any platform.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified', requiring users to seek clarification.
• Spatial coverage is limited to near-global (-82° to +82° latitude), excluding the polar caps.

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center)

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the 118 and 190 GHz radiometers on the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS).

Freshness

2026-04-10 00:32:47.510534

Geography

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