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Full catalog/ML3DBO3
ML3DBO3·v005·dataset

Ozone amounts by altitude, binned daily (Aura)

MLS/Aura Level 3 Daily Binned Ozone (O3) Mixing Ratio on Assorted Grids V005 (ML3DBO3) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3 active
In plain English

What it measures. Reports ozone amounts at different altitudes, binned into daily summaries on several vertical and map grids, with statistics like averages and ranges. It shows how ozone is distributed by height across the globe.

How it's made. Derived from microwave signals measured by the Aura satellite's Microwave Limb Sounder, then sorted and averaged daily onto assorted grids.

How & where you'd use it. Used by atmospheric scientists to monitor the ozone layer and study how ozone moves and changes with altitude; it is a research-oriented product.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › OXYGEN COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC OZONE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2004-08-02 → ongoing
  • Measured byAura (MLS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • 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

ML3DBO3 is the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) daily binned on various vertical grids product for ozone (O3) derived from radiances measured by the 240 GHz radiometer. The data version is 5.1. Spatial coverage is near-global (-82 to +82 degrees latitude) at a spatial resolution of 4 degrees latitude by 5 degrees longitude. The recommended useful vertical range is from 261 to 0.0215 hPa, and the vertical resolution is between 2.5 and 6 km. Users of the ML3DBO3 data product should read chapter 4 and section 3.18 of the EOS MLS Level 2 Version 5 Quality Document for more information. The data files are archived in the netCDF4 format, which is also compatible with HDF5 readers and tools. Each file contains six group objects: lat-lon map vs pressure, lat vs pressure zonal mean, lat-lon map vs "potential temperature", lat vs "potential temperature" zonal mean, "equivalent latitude" vs "potential temperature" zonal mean, and vortex average vs "potential temperature". These are further subdivided into groups with all valid, ascending orbit, descending orbit, daytime (SZA < 90), and nighttime (SZA > 110) profiles. Each group has a set of data (average, min, max, std dev, rms) and geolocation fields, grid attributes, and metadata.

Get the data

ml3dbo3_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="ML3DBO3",
    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.