GLDAS_CLSM10_M: Monthly Global Land Surface Variables, 1948-2014

NASA's Global Land Data Assimilation System Version 2.0 (GLDAS-2.0) monthly data provides a series of land surface variables. The data are generated by temporally averaging 3-hourly simulations from the Catchment Land Surface Model and cover the period from January 1948 to December 2014. The model is forced with Princeton meteorological data and uses MODIS-based land surface parameters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in soil moisture and temperature based on the described land surface variables.
• Modeling terrestrial water storage and surface runoff for hydrological studies based on the catchment model framework.
• Studying land-atmosphere interactions and energy fluxes using the temporally consistent meteorological forcing.
• Validating other climate or land surface models against a multi-decade simulated record.

Strengths

• Provides a temporally consistent series from 1948 through 2014, covering 66 years.
• Data was post-processed in October 2020 with a MODIS land mask to correct inland water representation.
• Simulations use a consistent forcing dataset and common GLDAS land mask and elevation data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is 'open-loop' (GLDAS-2.0) with no data assimilation, unlike some GLDAS-2.2 products.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Simulated from the Catchment Land Surface Model 3.6 in the Land Information System (LIS) Version 7, forced by Princeton meteorological data.

Time Range

January 1948 to December 2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:38:26.700260; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global, 1.0 x 1.0 degree resolution