Earth Data School
About
Full catalog/ML2DGG
ML2DGG·v005·dataset

Quality diagnostics for atmosphere data (Aura)

MLS/Aura Level 2 Diagnostics, Geophysical Parameter Grid V005 (ML2DGG) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2 active
In plain English

What it measures. Quality and diagnostic information that accompanies the main atmospheric measurements, helping users judge the reliability of those readings.

How it's made. Produced alongside the standard products from the MLS instrument on NASA's Aura satellite, generally on the same near-global grid.

How & where you'd use it. A supporting dataset that researchers consult to check data quality when working with Aura atmospheric products.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC CARBON MONOXIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS › HYDROGEN CYANIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS › METHYL CYANIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HALOCARBONS AND HALOGENS › BROMINE MONOXIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HALOCARBONS AND HALOGENS › CHLORINE MONOXIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HALOCARBONS AND HALOGENS › HYDROGEN CHLORIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HALOCARBONS AND HALOGENS › HYPOCHLOROUS ACIDATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HALOCARBONS AND HALOGENS › METHANOLATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HALOCARBONS AND HALOGENS › METHYL CHLORIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS › HYDROPEROXYATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS › HYDROXYLATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › NITROGEN COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC NITRIC ACIDATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › NITROGEN COMPOUNDS › NITROUS OXIDEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › OXYGEN COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC OZONE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2004-08-02 → ongoing
  • Measured byAura (MLS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -82, 180, 82
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

ML2DGG is the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) product containing geophysical diagnostic quantities pertaining directly to the standard geophysical data products, generally on a similar (or identical) grid, and at different spectral ranges. The data version is 5.0. 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). Vertical resolution varies between species and typically ranges from 3 - 6 km. Users of the ML2DGG data product should read the EOS MLS Level 2 Version 5 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 contain swaths objects for each diagnostics measurement. Each swath has a set of data and geolocation fields, swath attributes, and metadata.

Get the data

ml2dgg_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="ML2DGG",
    version="005",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.