WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument MLS (EOS-Aura)

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Instrument: 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

Earth Observation System (NASA)
- Aura (see instrument status) Oct 2004 - 2025

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.

Search:

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Cloud ice	1 - primary	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry in the 60-650 GHz range
BrO*	2 - very high	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. BrO lines around 640 GHz.
ClO*	2 - very high	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. ClO lines around 640 GHz.
HCl*	3 - high	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. HCl lines in a band around 625 GHz
HDO*	3 - high	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. HDO lines in a band around 1000 GHz
HNO3*	3 - high	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. HNO3 lines in bands around 190 GHz.
OH*	3 - high	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. OH lines in the band around 2500 GHz.
Atmospheric temperature	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry in 60-3000 GHz range
CH3Br*	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Several lines of HC3Br in the 750-1200 GHz interval
Cloud liquid water (CLW)	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometer in the 60-650 GHz range
H2O*	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. H2O lines in bands 183, 325, 380, 448, 556, 752, 916, 987 GHz and others.
N2O mole fraction*	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. N2O lines in bands around 300 and 500 GHz.
O3*	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-summ spectrometry. Ozone lines around 240, 300 and 500 GHz.
SO2*	4 - fair	Limited to high atmosphere.	Mm-submm spectrometry. SO2 lines in bands around 640 GHz.
Specific humidity	4 - fair	Limited 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).

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