BackForwardInstrument:  MLS (EOS-Aura) 

Instrument details
Acronym MLS (EOS-Aura)
Full name Microwave Limb Sounder
Purpose Chemistry of the high atmosphere. Tracked species: BrO, ClO, CO, H2O, HCl, HCN, HNO3, HO2, HOCl, N2O, O3, OH and SO2
Short description

5 bands / 36 sub-bands: 118 GHz (9 sub-bands), 190 GHz (6 sub-bands), 240 GHz (7 sub-band), 640 GHz (9 sub-bands) and 2500 GHz (5 sub-bands).

More information here
Background

Follow-on of the MLS flown on UARS.
Scanning Technique

Limb sounding
Resolution Vertical: 1.5 km in the altitude range 5-120 km. Horizontal effective resolution: ~ 300 km (limb geometry)
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage every 3 d for cells of 300 km side
Mass 430 kg Power 530 W Data Rate 100 kbps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2004 to 2025
Last update: 2024-09-30
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Limb sounders
  • Limb sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Sub-mm imagery
  • Sub-mm imager
  • UV/VIS/NIR/IR/MW limb sounders
  • UV/VIS/NIR/IR/MW scanning limb sounder
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • BrO
  • CH3Br
  • ClO
  • H2O
  • HCl
  • HDO
  • HNO3
  • N2O mole fraction
  • O3
  • OH
  • SO2
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Atmospheric temperature4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry in 60-3000 GHz range
BrO*2 - very highLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. BrO lines around 640 GHz.
CH3Br*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Several lines of HC3Br in the 750-1200 GHz interval
ClO*2 - very highLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. ClO lines around 640 GHz.
Cloud ice1 - primaryLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry in the 60-650 GHz range
Cloud liquid water (CLW)4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometer in the 60-650 GHz range
H2O*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. H2O lines in bands 183, 325, 380, 448, 556, 752, 916, 987 GHz and others.
HCl*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. HCl lines in a band around 625 GHz
HDO*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. HDO lines in a band around 1000 GHz
HNO3*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. HNO3 lines in bands around 190 GHz.
N2O mole fraction*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. N2O lines in bands around 300 and 500 GHz.
O3*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-summ spectrometry. Ozone lines around 240, 300 and 500 GHz.
OH*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. OH lines in the band around 2500 GHz.
SO2*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry. SO2 lines in bands around 640 GHz.
Specific humidity4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.Mm-submm spectrometry of water vapour bands at frequency up to 3000 GHz (main: around 183, 325, 380, 448, 556, 752, 916 and 987 GHz).