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Description

ML2HNO3 is the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) standard product for nitric acid derived from radiances measured by the 240 GHz radiometer at and below 10 hPa, and from the 190 GHz radiometer above 10 hPa. The data version is 4.2. Data coverage is from August 8, 2004 to current. Spatial coverage is near-global (-82 degrees to +82 degrees latitude), with each profile spaced 1.5 degrees or ~165 km along the orbit track (roughly 15 orbits per day). The recommended useful vertical range is from 215 to 1.47 hPa (1.0 hPa under enhanced conditions), and the vertical resolution is between about 3 and 5 km. Users of the ML2HNO3 data product should read section 3.12 of the EOS MLS Level 2 Version 4 Quality Document for more information.

The data are stored in the version 5 EOS Hierarchical Data Format (HDF-EOS5), which is based on the version 5 Hierarchical Data Format, or HDF-5. Each file contains two swath objects (profile and column data), each with a set of data and geolocation fields, swath attributes, and metadata.

Product Summary

Platforms
Aura
Instruments
MLS
Spatial Extent

N: 82 S: -82 E: 180 W: -180

Geographic Region
GLOBAL ,
STRATOSPHERE
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2004-08-02 to Present
Data Partner
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDI
Concept ID
C1251101497-GES_DISC
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
7174
Processing Level
2
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Atmospheric Nitric Acid

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Manney, G., Santee, M., Froidevaux, L., Livesey, N., & Read, W. (2015). MLS/Aura L2 Nitric Acid (HNO3) Mixing Ratio - Version 4 [Data set]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/AURA/MLS/DATA2012 Date Accessed: 2025-12-15

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PUBLICATIONS

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/Convergence HNO3-190Convergence NoUnits float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/HNO3-190 HNO3-190 vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/HNO3-190Precision HNO3-190Precision vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/L2gpPrecision HNO3-190Precision vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/L2gpValue HNO3-190 vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/Quality HNO3-190Quality NoUnits float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Data Fields/Status HNO3-190Status NoUnits int32 513 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/ChunkNumber ChunkNumber NoUnits int32 -999 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/Latitude Latitude deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/LineOfSightAngle LineOfSightAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/LocalSolarTime LocalSolarTime h float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/Longitude Longitude deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/OrbitGeodeticAngle OrbitGeodeticAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/Pressure Pressure hPa float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/SolarZenithAngle SolarZenithAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/Geolocation Fields/Time Time s float64 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/nLevels HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/nLevels N/A float32 N/A N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/nTimes HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/nTimes N/A float32 N/A N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/nTimesTotal HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-190/nTimesTotal N/A float32 N/A N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/Convergence HNO3-240Convergence NoUnits float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/HNO3-240 HNO3-240 vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/HNO3-240Precision HNO3-240Precision vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/L2gpPrecision HNO3-240Precision vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/L2gpValue HNO3-240 vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/Quality HNO3-240Quality NoUnits float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Data Fields/Status HNO3-240Status NoUnits int32 513 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/ChunkNumber ChunkNumber NoUnits int32 -999 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/Latitude Latitude deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/LineOfSightAngle LineOfSightAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/LocalSolarTime LocalSolarTime h float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/Longitude Longitude deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/OrbitGeodeticAngle OrbitGeodeticAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/Pressure Pressure hPa float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/SolarZenithAngle SolarZenithAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/Geolocation Fields/Time Time s float64 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/nLevels HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/nLevels N/A float32 N/A N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/nTimes HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/nTimes N/A float32 N/A N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/nTimesTotal HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-240/nTimesTotal N/A float32 N/A N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/Convergence HNO3-APrioriConvergence NoUnits float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/HNO3-APriori HNO3-APriori vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/HNO3-APrioriPrecision HNO3-APrioriPrecision vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/L2gpPrecision HNO3-APrioriPrecision vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/L2gpValue HNO3-APriori vmr float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/Quality HNO3-APrioriQuality NoUnits float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Data Fields/Status HNO3-APrioriStatus NoUnits int32 513 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Geolocation Fields/ChunkNumber ChunkNumber NoUnits int32 -999 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Geolocation Fields/Latitude Latitude deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Geolocation Fields/LineOfSightAngle LineOfSightAngle deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Geolocation Fields/LocalSolarTime LocalSolarTime h float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
HDFEOS/SWATHS/HNO3-APriori/Geolocation Fields/Longitude Longitude deg float32 -999.98999023438 N/A N/A
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