MLS/Aura Level 3: Monthly Binned Atmospheric Temperature on Assorted Grids

ML3MBT is the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder monthly binned temperature product derived from 118 and 240 GHz radiometers. The data version is 5.1, with near-global spatial coverage from -82 to +82 degrees latitude at a resolution of 4 degrees latitude by 5 degrees longitude. Each netCDF4 file contains six group objects, including lat-lon maps versus pressure and theta, with data fields for average, min, max, standard deviation, and RMS.

Use Cases

• Analyzing zonal mean temperature structures based on latitude versus pressure grids.
• Studying atmospheric vortex dynamics using the vortex average versus theta data group.
• Mapping global temperature distributions from the lat-lon map versus pressure data.
• Investigating temperature variability and extremes using the provided min, max, and standard deviation fields.

Strengths

• Data provides a recommended useful vertical range from 261 to 0.001 hPa with a vertical resolution between 3 and 6 km.
• Spatial coverage is near-global (-82 to +82 degrees latitude) at a defined resolution of 4 degrees latitude by 5 degrees longitude.
• Files are archived in netCDF4 format, which is compatible with HDF5 readers and tools, and contain six structured group objects with geolocation and metadata.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Monthly binned data; specific temporal coverage is not provided in the description.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:30:31.922912; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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