SPARC Data Initiative monthly zonal mean composition measurements from stratospheric limb sounders (1978-2018)

<p>The SPARC Data Initiative dataset is the most comprehensive compilation of vertically resolved stratospheric composition measurements to date and consists of four decades of monthly zonal mean climatologies (1978-2018) from a range of satellite limb sounders including LIMS, SAGE I/II/III, HALOE, UARS-MLS, POAMII/III, OSIRIS, SMR, MIPAS, GOMOS, SCIAMACHY, ACE-FTS, ACE-MAESTRO, Aura-MLS, HIRDLS, SMILES, OMPS-LP and SAGE III-ISS. The dataset includes most major long-lived trace gases (O₃, H₂O, N₂O, CH₄, CCl₃F, and CCl₂F₂), transport tracers (HF, SF₆, HCl, CO, HNO₃, NOy), and shorter-lived trace gases important to stratospheric chemistry including nitrogens (NO, NO₂, NOx, N₂O₅,and HNO₄), halogens (BrO, ClO, ClONO₂ and HOCl), and other minor species (OH, HO₂, CH₂O, CH₃CN). The observations considered have been compiled in units of volume mixing ratio (VMR) and on a common latitude-pressure grid, covering the region from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere (300-0.1 hPa) with a latitudinal resolution of 5 degrees.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>