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Microwave Limb Sounder

Aura Earth Satellite

This artist's concept shows NASA's Aura Earth satellite, which carries the Microwave Limb Sounder instrument designed to study radiation emitted from Earth's atmosphere. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Unprecedented Arctic Ozone Loss in 2011

In mid-March 2011, NASA's Aura spacecraft observed ozone in Earth's stratosphere -- low ozone amounts are shown in purple and grey colors, large amounts of chlorine monoxide are shown in dark blue colors.
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NASA's Aura Sees El Niño's Effects on the Atmosphere

NASA's Aura spacecraft sees El Niño's effects on the atmosphere. An El Niño is characterized by an abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
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Mission Summary

Making up one piece of the most advanced and accurate atmospheric chemistry laboratory ever deployed in space, the Microwave Limb Sounder, or MLS, instrument flies aboard NASA's Aura Earth satellite with three other instruments.

The Microwave Limb Sounder is designed to study the natural thermal radiation emitted from Earth's limb (the edge of Earth's atmosphere) to gather measurements on atmospheric gases, temperature and pressure. These data can be used to better understand the causes of ozone changes and pollution in the upper troposphere.

Fast Facts

Acronym:	MLS

Type:	Instrument

Status:	Current

Launch Date:	July 15, 2004 3:01 a.m. (10:01 UTC)

Launch Location:	Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Target:	Earth

Current Location:	› Click to view Orbit type: sun-synchronus, near-polar Altitude: 705 kilometers (438 miles)

Resources

› Mission Website

› Fact Sheet

› NASA Mission Page

› Microwave Limb Sounder Information on National Space Science Data Center

South Pole maps, measuring ozone hole chemistry

2006 Antarctic Ozone Hole Largest On Record

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