OMBRO: Satellite-Derived Bromine Monoxide Total Column Measurements

OMI/Aura satellite data provides daily, global measurements of bromine monoxide (BrO) total vertical columns. The Level-2 OMBRO product includes column densities, standard errors, quality flags, and geolocation information for each orbit's sunlit portion. Data is stored in HDF-EOS5 format with approximately 14 files generated per day.

Use Cases

• Tracking BrO plumes from polar sea ice and salt lakes based on geolocated total column measurements.
• Analyzing seasonal and spatial trends in bromine chemistry using the global, daily time series.
• Validating atmospheric models with satellite-derived BrO column densities and associated error estimates.
• Assessing data quality for specific regions or events using the provided quality flags.

Strengths

• Data is produced by a recognized scientific team, with algorithm leads Dr. Kelly Chance and Dr. Thomas Kurosu explicitly named.
• Provides high temporal resolution with approximately 14 orbits (and data files) per day.
• Includes ancillary data for validation, such as standard errors (rms and sigma) and quality flags.

Limitations

• Column names and a precise row count are not provided in the available metadata, limiting detailed structural understanding.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on two platforms and 'None' on another, creating uncertainty for reuse.
• Metadata completeness varies across platforms, with some lacking size, row, author, and update information.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the OMI instrument, using a specified retrieval algorithm (Collection-3).

Time Range

Daily, with each file covering the sunlit portion (~53 minutes) of one satellite orbit.

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:30:10.530675

Geography

Global, from the Aura satellite's sunlit orbital swaths.