Monthly ozone at different altitudes (Aura)
What it measures. Monthly averages of how much ozone is present at different heights in the atmosphere, covering nearly the whole globe, on a 4-by-5-degree grid.
How it's made. Derived from microwave energy measured by the MLS instrument on NASA's Aura satellite, then binned into monthly averages on standard vertical grids.
How & where you'd use it. Studying the vertical structure of ozone and how it changes month to month, important for understanding atmospheric chemistry and the ozone layer.
What's measured
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
ML3MBO3 is the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) monthly 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), with 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 ML3MBO3 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 two grid objects (profile and column data), each with a set of data and geolocation fields, grid attributes, and metadata.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="ML3MBO3",
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. Official links
- Access the data via HTTPS. GET DATA
- Access the data via the OPeNDAP protocol. USE SERVICE API
- Use the Earthdata Search to find and retrieve data sets across multiple data centers. GET DATA
- Data Quality and Description Document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- List of publications. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Users are encouraged to register with the MLS science team to obtain updates and information about this data product. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- EOS MLS Retrieval Process Algorithm Theoretical Basis VIEW RELATED INFORMATION