The goals of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II are to determine the spatial distributions of stratospheric aerosols, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, water vapor and cloud occurrence by mapping vertical profiles and calculating monthly averages of each. The SAGE II sensor (a Sun Photometer) was launched into a 57-degree inclination orbit aboard the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) in October 1984. The SAGE II data archived at the Langley Data Center contains Aerosols, NO₂, O_3, and water vapor profiles.