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

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.