TRPSYL2O3AIRSORS: Global Ozone Vertical Profiles from AIRS-Aqua

NASA's TROPESS AIRS-Aqua L2 Ozone for Reanalysis Stream, Summary Product provides the vertical distribution of atmospheric ozone (O3) and its formal uncertainties. Data is derived from the AIRS instrument on the EOS Aqua satellite using the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm. Each daily netCDF file contains global measurements at 26 vertical levels from the surface to 0.1 hPa.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in stratospheric and tropospheric ozone based on a global 18-year time series.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry and climate models using vertically resolved ozone profiles.
• Studying spatial patterns of ozone concentration at a 13.5 km nadir spatial resolution.
• Assessing retrieval algorithm performance by examining the provided formal uncertainties.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent 18-year global record from September 2002 to March 2020.
• Offers detailed vertical structure with data reported at 26 pressure levels.
• Data is processed using a sophisticated multi-species optimal estimation algorithm (MUSES).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in the available sources.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026 vs 2020), casting doubt on provenance maintenance.
• The dataset's license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

NASA TROPESS project, GES DISC, Principal Investigator Kevin W. Bowman.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the AIRS instrument on the EOS Aqua platform, processed with the MUSES retrieval algorithm.

Time Range

2002-09-01 to 2020-03-31

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:26:18.044461

Geography

Global