MLS/Aura ML3MBT: Monthly Binned Atmospheric Temperature on Global Grids

MLS/Aura Level 3 data provides near-global atmospheric temperature profiles from 261 to 0.001 hPa, binned monthly on 4° by 5° latitude-longitude grids. The dataset, version 4.2, is produced by NASA from radiances measured by the Microwave Limb Sounder's 118 and 240 GHz radiometers. Each netCDF4 file contains six group objects with statistical data like averages, standard deviations, and geolocation fields.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric temperature trends based on monthly binned averages across pressure levels.
• Analyzing spatial variability of atmospheric temperature based on near-global 4°x5° gridded data.
• Studying polar vortex dynamics using the vortex average vs theta group included in the files.
• Calculating zonal mean temperature climatologies using the lat vs pressure and lat vs theta groups.

Strengths

• Data version 4.2 indicates a mature, processed product.
• Spatial coverage is near-global, spanning from -82 to +82 degrees latitude.
• Vertical resolution is between 3 and 6 km across the recommended range from 261 to 0.001 hPa.
• Each file contains six distinct group objects with statistical measures like average, min, max, and standard deviation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific ML tasks.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from radiances measured by the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) 118 and 240 GHz radiometers.

Time Range

Monthly binned data; specific temporal coverage is not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:30:43.564925; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Near-global coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at 4° latitude by 5° longitude resolution.