HALOE: Daily Upper Atmosphere Profiles from UARS

491 altitude levels provide daily vertical profiles of temperature, aerosol extinction, and concentrations of HCl, HF, CH4, NO, H2O, NO2, O3, and CO2. The Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) was a solar occultation instrument on NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), measuring infrared absorption between 2.43 and 10.25 microns to investigate stratospheric ozone destruction. Limb measurements were made between 3 km and 130 km with less than 1 km resolution, covering latitudes from 80°S to 80°N over periods of two to six weeks.

Use Cases

• Tracking stratospheric ozone destruction based on vertical profiles of ozone and related halogen compounds.
• Analyzing atmospheric dynamics and radiative processes using daily temperature and pressure profiles.
• Studying the impact of chlorofluoromethanes on the upper atmosphere using HCl and HF mixing ratios.
• Investigating aerosol distribution and extinction in the upper atmosphere across latitude bands.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution vertical profiles with less than 1 km altitude resolution.
• Contains measurements for 10 distinct atmospheric variables, including multiple chemical species.
• Offers global coverage between 80°S and 80°N latitude.

Limitations

• Data format is binary record-oriented, which may require specialized software for access.
• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names and row counts are not provided.
• Update dates conflict between sources (2005 vs. 2026), suggesting potential stale metadata.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) / GES DISC

Collection Method

Solar occultation measurements via gas filter correlation radiometry and broadband filter radiometry.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:26:26.788553

Geography

Latitudes 80°S to 80°N