GLDAS_CLSM10_3H_EP: Global Land Surface Variables at 1.0 Degree, 3-Hourly

NASA's Global Land Data Assimilation System Version 2.1 (GLDAS-2.1) Early Product provides 34 land surface fields simulated with the Catchment-F2.5 Land Surface Model. The dataset has a 1.5-month latency and contains 3-hourly, 1.0-degree resolution data from January 2000 to the present. It is forced with a combination of NOAA/GDAS atmospheric analysis, GPCP precipitation, and AGRMET radiation fields.

Use Cases

• Modeling soil moisture and temperature dynamics based on the 34 land surface fields.
• Analyzing global precipitation and radiation impacts on terrestrial hydrology based on the combined forcing data.
• Studying long-term land surface trends from 2000 to present for climate research.
• Assimilating near-real-time land surface states into weather and climate forecasts based on the 1.5-month latency.

Strengths

• Contains 34 distinct land surface fields for comprehensive analysis.
• Provides data from January 2000 to the present, offering over two decades of temporal coverage.
• Simulated at a high temporal resolution of 3 hours and a global spatial scale of 1.0 degrees.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific ML tasks.
• Data is an 'Early Product' stream with a 1.5-month latency and may be superseded by the main production stream.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Simulated with the Catchment-F2.5 Land Surface Model within the Land Information System (LIS) Version 7, forced with NOAA/GDAS, GPCP, and AGRMET data.

Time Range

January 2000 to present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:30:24.500006; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global